A Tough life
by Hyuga09
Summary: A tough life is hard to live, but when it's been like that since birth it's more normal than anything. When Gaara goes to Konoha for the Chunin exams he makes a friend, a Genin named Nia who shows him that life doesn't have to be about killing, and pain. With Nia's help Gaara learns that he's not alone anymore and even in the darkest times one can find a friend. Gaara/OC plz review
1. Birth of a weapon

A tough life

Chapter one

Birth of a weapon

A moan of pain escaped the woman's lips as she clenched the sheets under her hands. Kurara was breathing heavily, looking around wildly for her husband as the nurses scrambled making final preparations for the delivery.

She panted as another wave of pain clenched her swollen abdomen, the pain was too much as she cried out.

"AAAHHHHH!"

The pressure building up in her womb was immensely painful, gasping at another contraction. Finally a glimmer of happiness sparks in the woman's eyes as her husband the fourth kazekage walks into the room, followed by of all people the elder Chiyo. Kurara's vision begins to blur from the pain, she shakes her head blinking as her husband nears, holding a teapot in his hands.

Her eyes widen in fear at the innocent looking object, however the teapot in question was not as innocent as it looked, sealed inside was the one tailed beast Shukaku. Her husband is talking to the old woman, holding out the teapot and pointing to his wife. She wails in pain again as another contraction strikes. With all the commotion she could barely make out the final words of her husband's conversation.

"Just do it."

The words bounced around in her head for what felt like years '**Just do it.'**She begins to struggle, she needed to escape. Kurara couldn't let this happen to her child, the innocent creature which was struggling to escape the safe confines of her womb, only to escape into the cruel world before his mother's eyes. She tried getting off the bed but several of the nurses held her down as she screamed in pain, fear, and rage.

"Let go of meeeeaaahhhhhhh!" She screamed as her muscles clenched again, much stronger this time. Elder Chiyo came over to the screaming woman's bedside as she began making a seal onto her bloated stomach.

She now looked at her husband, he was not the warmest man in the world, but he loved her right, RIGHT?

"Please, don't ahhh, don't to this to him he's our son, an innocent child. He doesn't deserve this curse." Her sea foam green eyes clenched tightly as the baby in her belly began to move around, as if already knowing he was in danger and looking for an escape.

Chiyo made some hand signs and pressed her palm to the screaming woman's stomach, watching as the teapot glowed a bright green aura. Slowly the seal encrypted it's self into the younger woman's flesh as she cried in agony. The glowing aura of the teapot crept over to the woman's seal like a poison mist, slowly it spun around the seal before disappearing completely inside the woman. The room was silent, save for the panting woman in labor, they all watched as the inside of her stomach glowed brightly, showing the silhouette of the baby in her womb.

Water burst from between the woman's legs as her pain increased, along with the pressure. The nurses scramble around her taking their positions as the head nurse gets in front of her, preparing to deliver the baby. The nurse coaches the woman telling her to push. Finally after eight hours of labor the infant is pulled from the mother, the umbilical cord is cut and the infant is passed to another nurse, one with a blanket. The woman's eyesight becomes hazy. The nurses try to stop the blood loss taking place. Mustering up the last ounce of her energy kurara speaks for the final time.

"His name will be Gaara, he will be a demon who loves only himself and he WILL take revenge for me on this god forsaken village." Her voice slowly faded as her vision turned black, she was falling into nothingness and eventually she faded from existence. As if feeling his mother's passing the newborn begins to wail, taking his first breath of air. The Kazekage looks over at the infant in the nurses arms and laughs darkly.

"Our ultimate weapon's arrived at last."

**This is just the first on many more to come, short, sweet and to the point. Welcome to the world Gaara!**


	2. Life and Death

A tough life

Chapter 2

Death and Life

In the furthest part of the house, a five year old girl with four blonde pigtails is playing with her younger brother. Her teal eyes shine in happiness as the three year old chases her.

"C'mon Kankuro, almost there!" she laughs as the brunette haired boy finally manages to grab her arm.

"Got you Temari!" Kankuro laughed as he began running from his big sister around the large room.

Yashamru smiled watching his niece and nephew play. His sister had gone into labor earlier the previous day and Yashamaru was eagerly awaiting the news about the newest addition to the family. As he was no help in the delivery room the kids' uncle helped out by watching the two children. His eyes strayed from the happy kids before him as he gazed down the hall. It was not often that they had time to act like children. Being the son and daughter of the Kazekage they were put into training at a much younger age, with expectations of prodigious proportions.

Temari at five years old was expected to be able to completely detatch and shut down her emotions, along with completing a daily training routine that would make most chunin shudder. And Kankuro, at three was being put through genin's training and was showing promise.

The form of the Kazekage was coming down the hall. Yashamaru tapped the door three times with his foot, the signal did not go unnoticed by the children, who quickly took battle stances and began sparring. Yashamaru immediately noticed the small bundle in the man's arms as a small hand could be seen moving just above the blanket. Quickly he bowed to the Kazekage, showing his respect to his brother-in-law.

"Rise." The Kazekage said his voice cold as ice.

Yashamaru did as he was told and immediately the infant was thrust into his arms.

"Kurara's passed, inform the children and make your final goodbyes, she's being buried tomorrow." Yashamaru stood stock still in shock.

"W-what?" His eyes were wide as he barely registered the new squirming bundle in his arms. "Lord Kazekage!"

"You will raise Gaara in Kurara's stead until he's old enough to train." With that the Kazekage walked away as silently as he'd come. Yashamaru looked at his nephew for the first time: He had a mop of red hair and round chubby cheeks. Yashamaru smiled as the baby in his arms yawned a toothless yawn. Opening his eyes Gaara revealed his sea foam colored eyes.

"Just like your mothers." Yashamaru said softly looking at the helpless creature. He sighed "Let's go see your brother and sister."

Turning Yashamaru walked into the room, looking at the older children, who had by then stopped their mock spar.

"Is mommy really gone?" The small blonde girl said, her eyes watery. Oddly her hands were covering Kankuro's ears, as if to protect him from the answer.

Yashamaru sighed looking down at the infant in his arms. "I'm sorry Temari, but it's true."

A strangled wimper came from the girl as she looked down. Right now her brother was deaf to the world, and she wanted to keep it that way. Taking her brother's hand she pulled him away from the door.

"Kankuro..."

"Nee-chan, why are your eyes watery?" The boy asked, tilting his head at his sister's words.

Temari swallowed looking at the untarnished innocence in her brother's eyes. "Momma's sick, and she's going to sleep for a really long time." She said softly.

Kankuro's face was one of confusion. "Will she wake up Nee-chan?"

Temari held back her tears. "I-I don't know Otouto. (little brother) I don't know.."

"So Mamma's going to sleep for a really long time?"

"Y-Yes, and they're going to put her in a pretty b-bed with a door and put her in the ground." Temari sniffled.

"But why? Why are they putting Mamma in the ground if she's sleeping?" Kankuro asked tugging on his sister's hand. Temari didn't know what to tell him, death is hard to explain to a child so she looked to Yashamaru, a pleading look in her eyes. Yashamaru sighed looking at the boy, crouching to be eye level with the child.

"When your mamma wakes up you'll be together, and that's all that matters right?" Yashamaru said hoping Kankuro wouldn't question it. Standing he held out his hand for them to take.

"Come, we must go say goodnight to your mamma, for the last time."

Temari swallowed the lump in her throat as she took her uncle's hand in one of hers, and Kankuro's in her other. Together they walked down the hall.

Kurara's body had been cleaned and moved to a clean room for the final viewing for the family. As Yashamaru entered with her children, the infant in his arms began to cry.

"Shush, Gaara it's alright." His uncle said softly, rocking the child gently. Temari walked over and put her hand on her mothers.

"I love you Momma, goodbye." She said softly kissing her mother's still warm forehead.

"Good night Mamma! See you soon, love you." Kankuro said also giving his mom a kiss. Temari led her brother out into the hallway, leaving her uncle and mother alone.

"Nee-chan, I'm sorry you passed the way you did. I promise to care for this child. He's an extension of you. Good bye Kurara." Yashamaru's hand clenched over his heart, it was as if it were being crushed.

The funeral was a small afair with few people. And eventually a sense of normalcy returned to the home. Temari's and Kankuro's training went on double paced as ordered by their father. Neither had seen much of their baby brother since his birth almost 10 months ago.

Yashamaru stared at the now crawling boy. He was a happy baby, always smiling and quick to latch on to who ever was nearest him. Yashamaru had Gaara on his lap for one of his feedings when Temari walked into the room out of passing chance. Temari stared at the little boy.

"Is that Gaara?" she asked pointing to the now much larger infant on her uncle's lap. Yashamaru smiled.

"Yes Temari-sama, would you like to feed him? I was just about to get his bottle ready." Temari stared at her brother's pale green eyes as the baby looked up at her smiling.

"Can I?' she asked, still looking at Gaara in his blue onesie. He reached up for her with his chubby little arms. Obliging the baby at her uncle's encouraging smile, Temari lifted the child into her arms as she sat down on the chair beside her. She bounced him watching as he laughed happily. Temari smiled as well.

"Well, you are cute." she said softly so only Gaara could hear. Suddenly an idea came to her. Standing and walking to the couch she placed her baby brother on the seat, putting both hands on each side of her brother she pushed the couch cushion down fast, so it popped back up. Gaara bounced in the air a few inches, landing back on the soft couch. The giggles stopped as Gaara stared at Temari with huge startled eyes. She regretted her idea immediatey thinking that she scared him, that was until he squealed in delighted laughter. She smiled at her discovery, and continued playing with Gaara for the next ten minutes until Yashamaru returned with the bottle.

"I need to go now Yashamaru, I only get a thirty minute break for lunch." Temari said sadly, looking longingly at the playful infant her uncle was now feeding.

"Well remember Temari-sama you are always welcome to come visit Gaara-chan. Kankuro-sama is as well." Yashamaru said as Gaara sloppily nursed from the bottle, clutching it in his hands. Temari smiled as she walked out of the room. Hopefully someday soon she'll be able to visit her brother with out fear of her father, unknown to Yashamaru they were forbidden to see Gaara.

**Yay, Chapter 2 is up! I have like 40,000 words or so on this story in one long chapter. now it's all about sectioning it off into chapters, so I have more to give**


	3. Christmas and wounds of the heart

A Tough life

Chapter 3

Christmas and wounds of the heart

Christmas was nearing and Temari and Kankuro were another year older. Temari now six and Kankuro now four were upped in their training regiment. Temari was sent to a sensei to learn more on how to develop her wind element chakra, and Kankuro on his fourth birthday was now under his father's tutelage and was rarely seen. These sessions however did not last as the Kazekage determined his fighting skills to be completely mediocre and sent him to work with a senior member of the Sunakagure battle puppet battalion where he excelled tremendously. By the holiday season the two kids were given time off for Christmas.

By now Gaara was walking, unsteadily, but walking. However he had yet to say his first words. Temari's had been by her ninth month, and Kankuro's in his tenth. Gaara was almost a year old and was silent, though very attentive. While on break Temari was walking with Kankuro when a small red headed child toddled out from the open door infront of them. His eyes brightened as he seen his sister and brother.

"Mari!" he said pointing to his sister. Turning to his brother he cried out "Kanko!" Yashamaru and the older children stared in awe as Gaara smiled up at the two in front of him. Temari was smiling happily pointing to her uncle she said.

"Who's that Gaara-chan?" watching as he stared at Yashmaru.

"Yamaru!"He said happily pointing to his uncle.

"Well merry christmas to us then huh?" Yashamaru said smiling at his niece and nephews. To think, his first words are the names of siblings he mostly sees in photos.

"Christmas is in three days, I would like it if you three could spend it together." Yashamaru said picking up Gaara. The baby whined as he reached out for Temari, staring at the blonde intently, his sea foam greem eyes glistening. The girl stared as his lip began to tremble and fat tears began to fill his eyes.

"No-no Gaara Temari is-"Yashamaru said before being cut off by the child being removed from his arms.

"Gaara- chan!" Temari said with a musical tint to her voice. "How's my little Otouto?" Smiling he wrapped his arms around Temari's neck nestling his head on her shoulder. Gaara began chewing his fingers. Kankuro looked at the child like he was some sort of disease.

"Temari." The older boy said warningly to his big sister. "You know we're not-" Kankuro was cut off by his older sister's glare.

"Does Gaara look dangerous to you?" She asked, teal eyes meeting brown. He sighed looking anxious.

"You know Oto-sama will be mad Temari."

Kankuro had a point, their father's temper was on an indefinitely short fuse, and would only grow shorter with time. Temari's eyes drifted to the floor as Yashamaru stared at both of the children with question in his eyes.

"Temari, Kankuro, what do you mean your father would get mad?" he asked glancing from the older to the younger, knowing that one would talk eventually.

Kankuro was the one to speak up. "Oto-sama said that we can't be around Gaara because he's dangerous because he ate a Biju. And that makes him a jinchiki." Yashamaru's eyes were wide with shock.

'Gaara has a Biju inside of him...He's a Jinchuriki?' "Temari, watch Gaara, I need to see the Kazekage about an urgent matter." he said walking off.

"Great Temari, you made him leave! Now what do we do with a drooly baby?" Kankuro asked glaring at his older sister and little brother, who was now sound asleep in his sister's arms. Temari rolled her eyes at her brother's outburst and walked into Gaara's nursery. The room held only a crib, playpen and a sandbox. The older girl walked over to the crib, thanking her luck that the side was left down she placed her brother gently inside and covered him with a blanket. Turning around, Temari seen Kankuro staring at her.

"Nee-chan, why doesn't he have any toys?" he asked looking around the barren room. The only thing in the room were several books, one a child's story book and the others photo albums. Picking them up the older siblings looked through the albums. They were photo's of the family, them their mother and father, and their uncle. However, both noticed that there were no pictures of Gaara. Question again was burning in Kankuro's eyes.

"I don't know why Kankuro." Temari said anticipating his question. They put the albums back and walked into the sitting area waiting for their uncle to return. An hour or so had passed and Yashamaru had yet to return, Kankuro had fallen asleep against his sister, and Temari was not too far behind. Her eyes grew heavy as her blinks grew longer, eventually falling into the sweet darkness of sleep.

Yashamaru returned from his conversation with the Kazekage. Discouraged by the news he was told. His sister was dead, and it was because of that beast sealed with in the child. Deciding to try and continue caring for the boy, Yashamaru walked back to the nursery where baby Gaara was with his older siblings. Walking into the room, he smiled seeing Temari and Kankuro asleep against each other on the couch. Looking into Gaara's room a twinge of unfamiliar emotion pinched at his heart when he looked at the sleeping child. Sighing he closed the door to Gaara's room, leaving him truly alone for the first time

Christmas had arrived that year with little celebration in the Sabaku house hold. The Kazekage used this day like any other to work in his office, and be rid of his children.

Still savoring their vacation said children were walking around the large Kazekage manor, Temari holding a poorly wrapped present.

"Are you sure Temari? Oto-sama will get mad!" Kankuro whined for what seemed to be the millionth time in the last 10 minutes.

"Kankuro, shut it. Oto-sama can only get mad about what he knows you're a bother today."she said playfully nudging him. It was best not to get Kankuro in a whiny mood, those lasted for hours. As they arrived to the door of Gaara's nursery, Temari opened it and walked in hearing a pitiful crying, she looked around for her uncle, but Yashamaru was no where to be found.

"Kankuro, look for uncle Yashamaru, I'll go check on Gaara." Immediately both children split up, Kankuro running from the room, and Temari venturing behind the closed door where her younger brother was crying. She peeked her head in and was acosted by an atrocious smell. Holding her breath she walked into the room and plucked Gaara from the crib and brought him into the bathroom. The baby reeked as Temari undressed him from his pajamas, leaving on only the foul diaper. Turning on the tub with cold water, Temari watched as the bathmat, once white turned a bright blue. Switching it to hot water the mat slowly turned a greenish color. Temari plugged the drain and let the water fill slightly before shutting off both taps. Taking a deep breath Temari prepaired to get her hands dirty, this diaper wasn't going to be a walk in the park, that she knew.

Kankuro walked through the manor looking for his uncle, even asking occasionally if the passing maids had seen him. He sighed, this was going to be a bit tougher than he thought. He searched the house and eventually ended up in the kitchen. On the fridge was a piece of paper which Kankuro jumped to get. Having been learning to read with Temari he slowly sounded out the words on the paper:

_Went to the cemetery with Gaara, will return before nightfall, Yashamaru._

Kankuro tilted his head in confusion, the paper said that Gaara was with him, but he was alone in the room. Why would his uncle lie? and what the heck was a kemetry?(he pronounced cemetery wrong for those who don't get it.) Taking the letter with him Kankuro walked back to find Temari.

The now cleaner, and diaper free Gaara lay on a towel on the floor as Temari walked to the trash holding the soiled diaper arms length away from her. "Gross." she said as the lid snapped shut on the garbage pail. Temari walked back to Gaara, who managed to roll over and started crawling around the room. Picking him up Temari plopped the child into the sudsy water.

"Ok Gaara, clean yourself up." Temari said looking at the small boy sitting in the tub. Leaning forward Gaara slapped a hand onto the water making a small splash as he laughed. Suddenly realization hit Temari she needed to bathe the boy herself, because he couldn't. Taking a washcloth she lathered the boy up covering him in bubbles. Taking a cup Temari filled it with bathwater and poured it on Gaara, rinsing the suds off. She left the boy in the tub as she unplugged the drain watching as he splashed the mini cyclone in facination as the water level lessened. Taking a towel Temari picked up her baby brother and carried him back to his bedroom. She diapered him and changed him and by the time Kankuro returned she was walking out of the bedroom with a much cleaner Gaara.

"Well, where did he go?" Temari asked holding the still wimpering baby in her arms. Kankuro handed her the note.

"I think it says he went to the kemetry" he said as his sister read the note.

"Kankuro, it says cemetery not kemetry, sometimes words starting with the letter 'c' makes an 's' sound. But more importantly why does it say that he took Gaara with him when he didn't?" Kankuro watched as his sister's brow furrowed in concentration, a frown on her face.

"Mari, Kanko, hungy." Gaara said pointing to his siblings as his stomach growled loudly. Walking to the refrigerator Temari scanned it looking for a bottle, or some kind of jar of baby food. Finding nothing she closed the fridge and went through the cabinets and found mashed sweet potatoes in a jar.

"Kankuro, go get a bib for Gaara so he doesn't make a mess." Temari asked her brother, who had been shadowing her since his return. Walking to the nursery Kankuro dug out a plain colored bib from one of the drawers and brought it to his sister who had placed Gaara in a high chair. Temari began spooning the potato mush into Gaara's mouth, most of it ending up on his cheeks. They went through two jars feeding the hungry child, Kankuro feeding his brother the second jar.

Clean, fed, changed and happy the older siblings put Gaara on the floor to toddle around, following close lest he fall and hurt himself.

"Hey Temari, should we give Otouto-chan his present now?" Kankuro asked eagerly smiling at the small red-headed child before him.

"Yeah, I'll go get it." She said walking out to grab the present from the couch. Back in the play area Gaara made his way to the sandbox with Kankuro's help. Together they were playing in the sand, and every time Gaara slapped his hands down in the sand it would create waving ripples. Kankuro saw this and was amazed. He tried with no result other than a poof cloud of sand. Gaara did it again, creating more ripples.

"Temari come here, loook what Otouto-chan can do!" Kankuro said as his sister came into the room. "Watch this" he said making another poof of dust. "Gaara, you do!" the older boy said slapping the sand, making the younger mimic him. The harder Gaara hit the sand the higher it came from the ground. Temari stared in awe.

"Wow. I've never seen that before. Let me try." Temari said focusing chakra into her hands and tapping the sand. The result was a bigger cloud than Kankuro made, though there were no sand ripples. Temari shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe only Gaara can do it." she said simply looking at her younger brothers. Sitting down in the sand box with her brothers, Temari crinkled the wrapping paper getting Gaara's attention. His pale sea foam eyes grew wide at the shiny paper. As he reached out, Temari's sharp eyes couldn't help but follow the trail of sand that moved after her brother's hand.

Poking a hole in the paper Temari handed the gift to her baby brother. Gaara didn't know what to do with it. He pulled the paper making it rip, jumping at the unexpected sound. Gaara's eyes were drawn to a fuzzy object inside the paper. Temari ripped the paper more and pulled out the brown fuzzy bear handing it to Kankuro, who in turn handed it to Gaara.

He touched the bear with a look of utmost curiosity etched on his face. Gaara squeezed the bear rubbing his face on the soft material, until something cold touched his cheek. The bear's nose, which Gaara immediately tried tasting as he chewed it. The older siblings smiled at each other as they watched Gaara maul the bear with his little hands, squealing in happiness. Together the three siblings spent the rest of the day, it was their first first Christmas together.

The month of January came and went, and along with it came Gaara's birthday, which went uncelebrated, though the mourning of the Kazekage's late wife Kurara did not. It was as small as her funeral, if not smaller. Temari felt bad for her brother. Their family was mourning for the one year aniversery of their mother's death, yet nobody even considered celebrating Gaara's one year of life.

**Chapter three has come and gone, Thanks for reading and reviewing! Chapter four will be up in no time**


	4. Mother's first contact

A tough life

Chapter 4

Mother's first contact

A bit more than a year had passed and the sand siblings seen very little of their baby brother. The next time they seen him was when Gaara was three years old. It was an unusually rainy day in Suna, the clouds were black and the rain came pouring down in buckets. Temari's teacher Baki had cancelled her classes as he was needed for a mission. Kankuro's teacher simply decided against classes due to the heavy rains. Together in Temari's room the blonde 9 year old sat on the window ledge looking out the window while the 7 year old brunette boy sat in the room practicing with his minature puppets, trying go get the bearings down right.

"This is such a waste of time. Why can't they just train us indoors?" Temari asked to nobody in particurlar as she watched the big droplets of rain fall from the sky. Rain was a rare occurance in Suna, especially a storm this big. She watched as some of the civilian children were running around splashing in the puddles.

"Nee -chan that looks fun." Kankuro said as me made his way over to the window in which his sister was perched. Though Temari would never admit it Kankuro had a point as she stared longingly into the large puddles. She sighed gazing out at the street noticing as the large group of children which were laughing were now clearing the streets, leaving it quite empty. The two siblings furrowed their brows wondering why the kids were abandoning their fun. A small red headed child was stumbled down the street very much alone, holding a brown teddy bear in his arms.

Earlier that day Gaara and Yashamaru went to the park. The small boy was excited, he loved the swings they were his favorite thing there. This time though the swings were filled up with kids. Gaara didn't mind if he liked the swings other's probably did as well, so instead he went to the sand box and began playing with the other children. While buidling a castle a woman's shriek filled the air as she seen her son playing with the demon child. Gaara seen the woman run over and snatch his playmate away before leaving the park. Several other parents followed suit removing their kids from the box and leaving the park. Gaara was eventually alone in the sand box.

**'They don't like you, they're afraid of you Gaara' **The gentle voice said. Immediately Gaara looked around for the voice, seeing nobody, not even Yashamaru. He was alone, not even in the park any more. The land scape was that of a moon lit desert.

"H-hello?" Gaara asked. He was afraid, though the voice was gentle it was hauntingly similar to the angry snarles of the beast in his nightmares.

**"Hello my son." **A voice said from behind him. Gaara spun frantically around to see a woman kneeling behind him. She had dirty blonde hair and oddly shaped yellow eyes. She smiled serenely at him.

**"I am Shukaku, your mother." **She said reaching out to touch Gaara, who backed away from the hand.

**"Why do you avoid my touch beloved son? I am your mother, I only wish to help you."**

"I want to go home." Gaara said softly. He didn't know the woman who claimed to be his mother and although her voice was kind and gentle she frightened him. His eyes were wide with shock as the woman's body slowly turned into sand as the wind began to gust, blowing her form away. Suddenly he felt arms around his body as they clenched tightly, holding him in place. Gaara closed his eyes as he felt the breath of the sand woman at the back of his neck.

**"I'm always here my son, weather you want me to be or not."**

The wind began gusting sending stinging sand against Gaara's skin. Opening his eyes he was back at the playground. Though once filled with children it was now empty. The only person who remained was Yashamaru, but he was staring at the boy oddly. Trying to move, Gaara could not. As he looked down he seen the tendrils of sand wrapped around his body. Slowly they melted away releasing him in the process as he frantically backed out of the sand box.

Yashamaru watched the strange event unfold. After the parents pulled their kids from the sand box, Gaara froze up and suddenly held his head as the sand around him began whipping fiercly in all directions. Parents in the park panicked as they grabbed their children and fled. Yashamaru could hear the small boy talking when suddenly his arms were pinned to his side by the sand as it surrounded the small boy. Then out of nowhere it stopped, the sand stopped blowing, and Gaara opened his eyes and began struggeling against the embrace of the sand around him. Yashamaru stared at the boy, and as if feeling his gaze the boy looked over to him.

Yashamaru stood and walked over to Gaara.

"You can get home from here, right Gaara? Something very important just came up and I need to see your father immediately."

Gaara simply nodded at his uncle who walked away.

**'See my poor little Gaara-chan? You truely are alone, even Yashamaru does not love you.' **

"Go away, just go away." Gaara whispered covering his ears with his hands. As he walked from the park the dark clouds above him seemed to open unleashing the torrents of rain from the heavens. Holding his bear in one hand Gaara made his way home.

**"So tired, look at you. Gaara you're exhausted, why don't you sleep? I'll take care of you."**

Gaara shook his head sleep was bad, that's where the monsters were. If he could sleep with out dreams then he'd sleep all day. But instead he lay awake most of the night fearing the monster that pervaded in his dreams, the monster with the cold souless yellow eyes. He was finally on the street that led to his home. Gaara could see the outline of the house in the distance, laughing could be heard as children were playing in the street and splashing in the puddles.

As Gaara approached the children ran into the safety of their homes avoiding the "demon boy" their parents warned them of. Gaara continued walking when he was suddenly struck with a wave of dizziness. The ground rushed up to meet him as Gaara's world turned back. The last thing he heard was someone scream out his name in panic.

Temari was sitting in the window as she watched her brother walk up the street very much alone as the other children abandoned their fun out of fear. Suddenly something didn't seem right to Temari and Kankuro noticed as well.

"Temari, why is he walking like that, that's not normal?" Kankuro asked, his tone filled with worry. Temari continued to stare.

"I don't know Otouto." She said staring at the staggering child. Suddenly he fell forward with no attempt to catch himself collapsing onto the cold wet ground.

The siblings eyes grew wide with shock and horror.

"GAARA!" Temari yelled out the window as she and her brother ran from her room. They didn't know what was wrong with him, but their Otouto needed help now. Temari made it outside first, with Kankuro close behind. She knelt down beside Gaara turning him over.

"Gaara? Gaara answer me, come on wake up." Temari said frantically as she lifted the boy into her arms holding him tightly as she brushed the water and mud off his face with her free hand. With Kankuro holding open doors They brought Gaara into the house.

"Kankuro go get towels and a blanket, he's shivering." Temari ordered. Kankuro ran off grumbling something about always being his sister's slave.

Looking at her much bigger brother Temari noticed several differences about her brother, for one aside that he had grown he now had dark rings around his eyes from lack of sleep. Temari lifted Gaara's eyelid and was shocked to find his eye colors were changing from their normal sea foam green to clashing bright yellow gold. This frightened her a great deal. l. Temari's father had once told her about the demon sealed with in her little brother, and how it had the power to manipulate sand and how it's eyes were a golden yellow color. Suddenly Temari realized what was happening. The demon was trying to take over her brother.

"Oh no". she whispered softly. "Gaara listen to me, don't give in to Shukaku. I know you can win this."

"Leave me alone I don't wanna sleep I wanna wake up! The monster comes out when I sleep, I don't want to see the monster." Gaara cried as he looked upon the moon lit desert once again.

**"Poor child, poor sweet child. We have a very serious problem, if only there was something I could do." **Shukaku said softly her sandy shape, shifting around Gaara who was doing his best to keep it from touching him. He didn't trust the sand woman who seemed bent on being around him.

Suddenly the woman materialized infront of him yet again.

**"I'll keep you safe from the monster Gaara."**She said simply holding out her hand to the boy as she smiled. Gaara noticed how her teeth were growing sharper.

'She is the monster!'

Closing his eyes crouching down and covering his ears Gaara shouted out loud.

"I just wanna wake up! Please!"

Suddenly Gaara heard a familiar voice.

"Gaara, don't give in to Shukaku. Don't give in. **Don't Give In.**" The voice echoed around the dreamscape. Opening his eyes the dreamscape before Gaara slowly began to drift away.

Temari and Kankuro who had Gaara wrapped in the blanket watched their brother. He was sitting up with his eyes open as his siblings listened to Gara's conversation.

"Leave me alone I don't wanna sleep I wanna wake up! The monster comes out when I sleep, I don't want to see the monster."

Temari and Kankuro looked at each other both frightened at what they were seeing and hearing. Gaara stared with out seeing as he now began screaming.

"I just wanna wake up! Please!"

"Gaara" Temari said looking at not only Gaara, but Kankuro as well. "Gaara don't give in to Shukaku. Don't give in!"

The older siblings watched as the golden yellow bagan to dissipate from Gaara's pale green eyes. Suddenly he blinked several times bringing the room along with his brother and sister into focus.

"Temari, Kankuro? What's wrong?" Gaara was looking around the room his head throbbing. His siblings looked really worried.

"Gaara, you will be coming with me." A cold voice said from across the room. There in the door way was the fourth Kazekage, their father. He looked over to his eldest children.

"What did I tell you two about being around your brother?" He said glaring at Temari. Because she's the oldest he expected her to follow the rules he set and make her brother do the same.

"Well, father we were-" He cut off Temari's explanation.

"I will hear none of your excuses." Though his voice was quiet, Temari knew not to speak up, this was when he was at his most dangerous, Kankuro did not know this.

"We were looking out the window and seen him collapse, would you rather we have just left him out there!" Temari stared in shock at her brother. The Kazekage was looking at the boy with narrowed eyes. Overlooking this outburst he turned his attention back to Gaara.

"As I have said, you will come with me to begin your training. Yashamaru has informed me that you have started conversing with Shukaku. The time has come. Follow me." He said as he walked down the hall. Gaara looked at his siblings before following his father down the hall. They had a look of pity on their faces. If anything they knew that their little brother was going to be going through hell.

**And here comes shukaku, seeing how he calls it mother, i view it as female, it makes things much easier on my part. Thanks for reading, and for the reviews!**


	5. Shukaku takes over

A Tough life

Chapter 5

Shukaku takes over

Gaara was led down the maze of hallways in the Kazekage manor. Eventually they ended up inside a training room.

"Starting now I'm going to train you beast child. At your age Temari and Kankuro began their training regiment as well, however I'm going to be using different methods with you. Call out your demon."

Gaara's eyes were wide, not only did this man, his father, who was more a stranger than family scaring him, but he wanted him to call out the sand lady with scary teeth and eyes. Was this guy crazy?

Gaara shook his head. "No, the sand lady's scary."

The kazekage raised an eyebrow. "Go face that wall over there." he said simply watching as the small boy did as told. "Now close your eyes and stand there." he said as he shut off the lights in the room, putting both of them in darkness.

Gaara stood with his eyes shut standing in front of the wall.

**"What are you doing my son?"**The voice said softly. Opening his eyes Gaara was again surrounded by sand.** "Your father wishes to speak with me yes?"**

Gaara shook his head, refusing to look into the scary golden eyes with his own sea foam orbs. Suddenly the sand woman inhaled deeply shuddering as she let out a breath.

**"I smell fear and weakness."**she said licking her lips._**"**_**The fearful always taste so sweet."**She looked over at Gaara as her body dissipated. Only her face reformed in the sand where Gaara was staring. Gasping in shock he jumped backwards at her unexpected appearance. "What do you want?" he asked softly finally looking at the demon who smiled sinisterly.

**"Why that's very simple, I want the blood of the creature in this room, I WANT IT'S BLOOD! So sweet. I want it now, and you can either give in, or I'll take what's mine by force my dear sweet son. You don't want to make Mommy angry do you? Mommy's the only person who loves you. the person in this room is afraid of YOU they hate YOU."**

Gaara was horrified. "N-No, you cant do that it's wrong it's-"

_**"I WILL TAKE WHAT'S MINE!"**_Shukaku screamed as her form yet again burst into sand particles swirling around Gaara like a sand tornado before suddenly stopping. The boy looked around in fear, he couldn't move as the sand held him in it's grip. More sand around him burst up menacingly as Shukaku's outline could be seen in front of him, a seeming illusion from the sand. Quick as a flash the sand flew at his face going down his throat as he choked and coughed at the invading force, his eyes wide in horror.

Each grain that entered through his mouth and nose felt like shards of glass, stinging and burning his throat. Gaara could fell an over whelming power take over his body, one he had no control of, and the very same that would let him have no control. He fell forward hitting the cold sandy ground as Shukaku's voice rang in his head louder than ever.

**"I always get what is mine. You should know better than to disobey your mother Gaara."**

The kazekage watched through the glass as the random civilian shook with horror at the sight of the demon child in the corner of the room. He smirked as he felt Shukaku's chakra pervade his senses. Slowly the boy turned to face the pitiful man. However it was not in his voice in which he spoke.

**"Blood blood blood sweet tasty blood, mother deserves some delicious blood after so long."**

Sand enveloped the man lifting him up from the floor as demon possessed Gaara walked over standing under his shadow. slowly the demon clenched the boy's fist causing the trapped man to scream out in pain and agony as a steady dripping stream of blood began falling on to the possessed child, who lifted his face to let it drip on him.

**"Beautiful truely. Like crimson tears..."**

The man continued screaming as the demon squeezed, clenching his fist tightly. What was left of the civilian was nothing more than a splatter of blood on the walls. Gaara slowly fell forward landing with a thud on the ground. The Kazekage turned and walked away, for the day's training was done. Shukaku had been awakened.

Gaara stood in the dream scape yet again as Shukaku materialized in front of him, her face covered in blood.

**"Do you see why it's best to give mother what she wants? It hurts when you don't listen. Give yourself to mother and she'll protect you Gaara. I have been satiated. And as usual the fearful are always so sweet.**_**" **_She said licking blood from her lips. Shukaku vanished as Gaara once again fell onto the sand seeing only darkness.

Gaara awoke to the feeling of something warm and sticky on his face with a copperish taste in his mouth. He opened his eyes and seen red splattered everywhere. Pushing him self up his hand slid in a violet red substance, making him fall down again with a splatter. Gaara's eyes were wide with horror.

"Blood, blood everywhere, so much-"

**You know you like it Gaara, wallow in it, breath in the scent, LOVE IT"**

Gaara shook his head to be rid of the voice.

"No." Gaara whined clenching his eyes shut. Slowly he trudged from the room covered in blood from head to toe. Passing a maid in the hall she screamed, dropping her tray as glasses shattered. Gaara barely noticed, he was numb and his head was throbbing. Another scream was heard down the hall as the bloody room was found.

**"They scream because they fear you, they hate you. Only I love You Gaara."**

"JUST STOP IT! LEAVE ME ALONE AND STOP IT!" The small boy screamed. By now he had walked outside to the courtyard, and quite a few people seen the blood soaked boy and his outburst. The next Training lessons from his father ended very similarly, however in the following months Gaara soon learned to give in to Shukaku and her emotions. It was easier that way, whenever he resisted the possession would cause him great physical pain. And after every lesson Gaara would wake in a stupor covered yet again in the blood of an innocent. As he would walk through the crowded halls nobody would ever check to see if the blood belonged to him, to see if it was he that was injured. In a way it was, for at every fearful glance and squeal of shock and horror his heart tore and bled more and more, damaging his fragile psyche as well.

He walked down another hallway but the voice that cried out in shock was one that tore his heart the most. Hardened seafoam eyes looked up to met the teal ones that belonged to a familiar blonde with four pigtails. Her eyes were filled with horror and fear, seeing this the red head took off running, even ignoring her as she called out for him to come back.

**"See? Even your so called sister hates you. Did you see the horror in her eyes, mmm don't you think HER blood would be especially sweet? Can we kill her? Lets kill HER."**

Shukaku once again tried taking over Gaara's body, however he used all of his will to prevent it as he clenched his head, sinking to the ground.

"NO! I'm not letting you out, you're just going to hurt her."

**"On the contrary son, I'm going to KILL her"**

"I said NO. She's my sister. I will not let you hurt Temari nee-chan." Gaara hissed in pain as the Shukaku spirit tried once again to invade his body.

Temari had been walking down the hall home from her training with Baki-sansei. As she rounded the corner she seen a familiar figure covered in blood. Gasping she covered her mouth, her eyes wide with horror and fear. However she did not fear her brother, she feared for him.

'Is that _blood?_ Is_ he_ hurt? What happened to_ him_? Is _Gaara her Otouto _alright?' Questions raced through her mind, flinching at the hurt in his eyes as he ran off.

"Gaara! Gaara come back!" Temari cried out after him. Seeing how he didn't slow down, Temari decided to give chase, however before rounding a corner, she heard a chilling voice.

**"...mmm don't you think HER blood would be especially sweet? Can we kill her? Lets kill HER."**

Covering her mouth Temari muffled her squeak of shock. It wanted to KILL her! But her real question was would Gaara let it? Peeking around the corner she seen her brother clenching the sides of his head as he sank to the ground.

"NO! I'm not letting you out, you're just going to hurt her."

Temari's eyes welled up, her otouto was protecting her, he was fighting it. Fighting for her. She wanted to leave her hiding spot, Temari wanted to rush out and be the big sister and protect her little brother. It was not a need, but a desire to protect her loved ones, even if they were demon containers being possessed. But how to stop a possession? She read it some where, Temari could faintly recall, but her thoughts were cut off by the return of the demonic voice.

**"On the contrary son, I'm going to KILL her."**

SON? This thing thought he was her son? That She was Gaara's mother? Temari was now shaking out of fear for her brother and frustration that she could do nothing to help him.

"I said NO. She's my sister. I will not let you hurt Temari nee-chan." Gaara hissed in pain as Shukaku's spirit tried once again to invade his body, and much to his fear she was winning. Sand began to envelope his body as he felt the demon's chakra pumping in.

"No."

Temari's eyes grew wide at the sound of that word. He had lost, and the word was not one of defiance like the others, but one of defeat and regret. He lost the battle with Shukaku, Gaara had lost.

"Gaara." Temari whispered softly holding her own head.

'Think think THINK!' Her eyes grew wide. 'Disturb the host. Sudden damage to the host will immediately supress the demon's chakra.' Taking a chance Temari peeked around the corner. The aura the demon was giving off was incredible. His body turned slightly and Gaara, no the demon had a maniacal look on it's face. Temari suppressed her chakra as much as possible as she felt the demon coming ever so close to her hiding spot. Slowly it tracked by as Temari mentally let out a sigh of relief. Opening the door quietly Temari looked around. The aura, which had once been so strong was now gone entirely, but where did it go? Stepping from the room Temari looked around, she immediately regretted her decision.

All her shinobi training couldn't prepare her for such an overwhelming feeling of dread. Temari could feel it watching, stalking her like a predator does to it's prey. Swallowing dryly Temari stood still as a drizzle of sand began falling on her shoulder. If she acknowledged it and ran like prey, the demon possessing her brother would respond like a predator and hunt her down. She started walking slowly down the hall, feeling it's eyes burning holes through her. As Temari moved she could hear the soft crush of sand above her. Fear and the overwhelming urge to run was looping in endless circles in her stomach, she didn't know how much longer she could take it.

'Fight or flight, fight or flight.' the restless sound of sand gave her an answer. Flight. Quickly Temari ran, however she didn't get too far before she was grabbed by Shukaku's arm of sand. Struggling against it was useless. the demon in control was stronger than Temari or her brother. As the sand constricted tighter Temari screamed.

**"Go ahead child, scream it only fuels my urge to bathe in your blood, besides nobody can-"**

"NO!" Gaara's voice shouted out, no trace of demonic essence.

The sand loosened and then suddenly tightened more than it had been the first time, Temari yelped out in pain again.

**"She does not love you, she screams because she fears and hates you Gaara! Do you see how she screams? She deserves this for seeing you as a monster, for seeing you as a beast."**

"No, STOP IT!" The sand loosened and suddenly squeezed the tightest it ever had making Temari scream louder and cough up blood as the demon laughed.

**"Can you feel it? feel your bones crack can you feel the warm crimson streams of blood dripping down your skin? I'll bet it tasts delicious."**

"Temari I'm sorry. I'm -I" Gaara stuttered

"I-I know you're trying O-Otouto, that's why I love you Gaara." The demon squeezed her harder, determined to silence her words. Temari could barely breathe as she began to black out. A loud thump was heard and suddenly the constricting sand holding Temari fell to the floor. Slowly she fell with it but instead of hitting the floor she was caught by something soft and warm, a someone. A someone had saved them both.

**That's chapter 5! chapter 6 will be up soon thanks for reading and reviews! **


	6. Relief and Tragedy

A Tough life

Chapter 6

relief and tragedy

Kankuro was in his room putting away his puppets after a long day of training. He wanted nothing more than to just lay on his bed and just relax. As he settled on the bed a scream of pain and fear rang through the halls. Sitting up, Kankuro could hear a strange voice talking, followed by his younger brother's scream of "NO!" and another cry of pain. Immediately Kankuro was up and running towards the commotion because those screams of pain sounded frighteningly similar to his sister's voice.

"Please for once let me be wrong." he begged as he ran dread filling his being. Again he heard a demonic sounding voice, speaking almost tauntingly, and again Gaara cried out, begging what ever was there to stop. Kankuro flinched as he heard Temari scream louldy in pain. There was no doubt now, it was his sister. As he rounded the corner in the hall Kankuro could sense the demon's aura. He under stood that it was not three people, but two, Shukaku must have taken over Gaara. At the final hallway Kankuro heard Gaara apologizing to his sister, desperation in his pleading voice.

Temari sounded so weak as she answered the boy. Quickly sending a chakra string to a lamp in the hallway, Kankuro jerked it back towards him watching with a wince as it slammed into his little brother's head. The sand around Temari fell to the floor, and she along with it. Kankuro ran forwards catching his older sister before she hit the ground. Temari rubbed her face against the fabric of his clothes and mumbled something sounding like 'So warm' before passing out. She was a mess, bleeding from her arms and coughing up blood. Kankuro had never seen his sister so weak. Taking a last look at his little brother Kankuro pulled his sister onto his back and ran to the Suna hospital.

Gaara had never felt more relieved when he felt the hard smack against the head, he and the demon shared. The second the lamp made the connection, Gaara felt the connection between he and Shukaku vanish. He could feel the sand fall off him as he fell forward, weak and tired. Never had he been happier to see his eldest brother, and he was even more so when he caught Temari as she fell. The demon container could feel his brother's gaze upon him before he ran his sister to safety, just staring. Gaara was tempted to meet his eyes, but decided against it, instead he lay there feigning unconsciousness. Gaara didn't want to see the eyes of his siblings. They loved him yes. But he could only hurt them, and today Temari was the proof of that. There he decided it would be best to avoid future contact with his family, namely the two who seemingly cared the most.

Standing from the mound of sand in which he had lain, Gaara walked back to the room that he shared with Yashamaru, his uncle, who seemingly loved him unconditionaly. If only he knew what was to come.

Two more years had passed since Shukaku's attempt on Temari's life. Gaara had done everything in his power to avoid his siblings since then. Even going as far as to duck into empty rooms when he felt their chakra signatures. Shukaku was continually damaging Gaara's mind, and the only thing that kept any shred of sanity was his uncle Yashamaru. Now five years old Gaara had been "training" with his father for two years now.

Temari now eleven, and Kankuro now nine had seen nothing of their brother since that incident. Temari held no resentment towards her brother, she knew Gaara was fighting the demon to keep her safe. Even if the others didn't. That was the first time Temari had ever been in the hospital for something other than a doctor's appointment. She remembered waking up in massive pain on her brother's back. Temari watched the scenery move until she realized that they were the ones moving, not everything else. She was completely out of it.

"What?" Temari asked softly as she drifted in and out of consciousness again. She could see the look of pure concern on the puppet ninja's face. As they entered the hospital Kankuro immediately called for help from one of the passing medics, who scooped his sister up and ran to the emergency room, Kankuro following closely. They stayed there for three days, running tests and checking her organs for damage. Temari ended up with seven fractured bones, including arms legs and ribs, areas of extreme bruising, slight blood loss, but not enough to cause lasting damage and stitches on her upper arm. in short she was a mess, but she'd live to fight another day. Although Kankuro was relieved he couldn't help but feel resentful towards his brother Gaara, and when he voiced his concerns to Temari, she scolded him severely.

"Kankuro, Gaara's our brother. He'd never do anythig to intentionally hurt us."

Temari said laying in her hospital bed eating some pudding as her brother stared at her incredulously.

"Temari LOOK at yourself, look what he did to you, how can you say this isn't his fault?" Kankuro asked raising his voice in frustration. Temari glared at him.

"Gaara did NOT do this to me! Shukaku did. Our BROTHER was trying to protect me from the demon inside of him. Did you not hear him beg that thing to stop? He begged Kankuro. Then he apologized to me because he couldn't stop it. No matter what, that little boy will always be my little brother, MY Otouto-chan!" She snapped shoving another spoonful of pudding in to her mouth glaring at the wall.

Kankuro couldn't lie, he had heard the differences in voices between his brother and the demon. And he HAD heard the boy asking the beast to stop, then begging his sister's forgiveness. Temari had a point. Gaara was not the Shukaku, but he was his jailer. That didn't stop him from being creepy though.

Though his siblings forgave and seemingly forgot Gaara still kept his distance from them, relying more heavily upon Yashamaru for love and communication. Ever since her first breakthrough Shukaku managed to come back out causing panic in the village over fifty times. Though it was Gaarra's body doing evil acts of distruction, it was Shukaku's consciousness and mind that stored the memories. Gaara was aware of nothing other than total darkness, knowing that eventually he'd awake to find bloody carnage. It wasn't long before the Kazekage was fed up with the abomination he had created. That evening the Kazekage made out a mission for the assassination of Sabaku no Gaara. The only question left was what Jonin would he sacrifice to do such an attack? There was one man he knew who harboured such Ill will towards the Jinchuriki. Filling out his name on a summons the Kazekage sent a messenger to deliver the scroll. Yashamaru could finally get revenge on the beast who killed his beloved sister.

The next evening Gaara sat alone staring up at the moon lit sky when out of nowhere dozens of floating kunai shot towards him, startling the poor boy as his sand shield sprung up and defended him.

'Why me? Why is it always me?' he thought angrily. For the first time, Gaara directed the sand to do his bidding. For the first time he had wanted to intentionally cause someone pain. The sand wrapped around his attacker as Gaara clenched his fist crushing the man before him. He watched as the blood splattered against the wall in a gruesome pattern.

Gaara began shaking as he stared at the body. what had he done?

**"You did what you needed to survive Gaara. Don't cry for this worthless bug before you."**

Shukaku stirred in Gaara's mind. Oddly this time her words brought comfort, not pain and fear. perhaps this demon was not so evil?

**"Oh no, I'm still evil, but that doesn't mean i'm heartless. After all I didn't tell you the worst part. you know this bug."**

Gaara reached out a trembling hand towards the white curtain like face guard. covering his attacker's face. Gaara's heart stopped.

"You were truly a worthy opponent Gaara." Yashamaru said smiling at the boy he had just tried to kill. Clenching his hand over his chest Gaara screamed in pain and sadness.

"No, Why? Why? Why Yashamaru why?"Gaara asked sobbing.

"It was an order from the kazekage, I was commissioned to kill you."

Gaara felt horribly sick to his stomach as he threw up, his body trembling.

"S-so it w-was an o-order, you h-had no c-choice." Gaara said trying to make sense of the situation as best he could.

"No, Gaara I wanted this mission." Yashamaru breathed.

"B-but you w-were the only p-person who loved m-me." Gaara sobbed.

"No, I never loved you, I resented you for taking my older sister's life with your birth. I thought that for her memory I could care for you, but I couldn't. She never wanted a child like you, the only reason you bare the name she gave to you is so you serve as a reminder of the vengence she wished upon this place. No you were never loved." Yashamaru opened his vest which was smoking as Gaara stared, tears streaming down his face. "Now please Gaara, die with me."

A loud explosion shook the building and as the dust slowly dissapated. All that could be seen was a round shield of sand, protecting the boy inside. As Gaara began to scream in pain, hate, and anger tendrils of sand came up and started slicing into his forehead creating the symbol for love.

"So I will love only myself, fight only for myself that's what Gaara means." Blood dripped from the boy's forehead.

**"I TOLD you that man was full of lies, and what did you do? You trusted a liar. And what did he do? He tried to kill US!"**Shukaku sighed **"Do you now understand why you listen to your mother Gaara? I'm the only one who loves you. Everybody else will try the same thing, they will try to make you weak, they will try to kill you, but we won't let that happen, will we son?"**

Gaara stared up at the moon as the light bleached his features. Closing his eyes for a moment, they snapped open with a glare that could freeze lava.

"No mother, we won't."

.

**Chapter 6 over and out! Thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	7. Team Sabaku

A Tough Life

Chapter 7

Team Sabaku

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned to years, and Gaara remained cold. No longer did he love, no longer could he trust. How could he after the betrayal of the one person who treated him like a human being? Now as Gaara walked through the village streets, silence was deafening as the people parted like the red sea. Any off looks, whispered rumors and the like heard in Gaara's presence about himself were silenced by death, rivers of blood and the remains of whoever was unlucky enough to get caught. Assassins were a daily occurrence in the young boy's life. Because he never slept it was more of an inconvenience than a worry for him. They too never again seen the light of day.

The Kazekage was furious. The seventh assassin was found dead in the village, could these people do nothing right? Or perhaps the boy was of some use after all? The Genin selection exams were coming up, and perhaps if he could not be killed in the village, perhaps he would perish on a mission. Yes, that would be most likely. The Kazekage already knew who Gaara would be paired with. And of course this particular group would have the most age difference, however there would be a very minimal ammount of objections to the team.

Temari and Baki were in the training grounds working on her technique with her much larger fan. Today's lesson was manipulating the wind blown off her fan with Chakra. An elementary technique yes, but with the larger fan Temari would need to have more control and use more chakra. Kankuro had completed the classes from his puppet master teacher and was given his first battle puppet as an award for his studious manor. He was in the training grounds as well, working through every mechanism inside and out of 'Crow'. As they trained Baki criticized adjusting stances and forms.

A messenger walked towards the training trio, stopping in front of Baki. Temari watched as they spoke for a moment before the newcomer left.

"Alright, enough." Baki called out to his two students, watching as they dropped their exercises.

"We have been summoned to appear before the Kazekage, come." Baki said as he turned and walked away. Temari and Kankuro shared a look that plainly said 'What does dad want now?' Together they walked getting stares from the villagers, listening as they spoke.

'Aren't they the Kazekage's kids?'

'Aren't they related to that demon?'

'They actually live with him?'

'How are they still alive?'

Ignoring the gossip the trio continued to the Kazekage's office. Upon arrival they were ushered in front of their father. All three bowed respectfully.

"Lord kazekage."

The cold man simply nodded in recognition before staring at Temari, his oldest.

"Temari, you are fourteen, yes?"

'He doesn't know how old I am?' controlling her emotions Temari nodded.

"Yes sir."

He turned his head to look at his son.

"And you Kankuro are twelve?"

"Yes." Kankuro said covering his disappointment well.

"Good, both of you are old enough to be part of a squad and to leave the village on missions and such."

Temari was elated finally she could show her father what she was made of, she could finally prove her worth. Kankuro was just as excited, but something was a bit off, didn't squads have three members not including a sensei? Apparently Temari was thinking along the same lines.

"Lord kazekage, who's our other member, don't squads usually have three genin?" She asked looking her father in the eye. What wasn't he telling them?

"Your teammate will meet you at the training grounds tomorrow at twelve. Baki will be your Jounin sensei. You are all dismissed." With a collective bow from the group the team left the Kazekage's office. Once outside and in the blazing sun Baki turned to his students.

"Take the rest of the day off, tomorrow we will begin our group training with the new member. Rest up, because it's going to be a long day." With that he turned from his students and walked away.

"Hey, Kankuro.." Temari asked as they began walking down the street. He glanced at his sister noding for her to continue.

"Did it seem like father was hiding something from us? I mean there are plenty of genin our ages that we could have been paired up with. what do you think he's planning?"

Kankuro hummed in thought "You make a good point there, I'm not sure what he's up to. But as long as we have our awesome skills, I don't see what the deal is." Typical Kankuro, I make a point that our father's keeping something big from us and he goes and turns it into a contest of skills Temari thought numbly, wanting to give her brother a hard poke in the head. Instead she sighed, wondering who their mystery partner was.

Gaara sat alone on the sandy cliff overlooking the village, the sun was setting and the air was cooling. He stared out at the village, noticing the unusual colors and hues. Blues, reds, greens. all from the setting sun.

**"Look at those reds, they remind me of blood." **Shukaku gushed, but Gaara ignored her. He wanted quiet so to escape the village noise he came up here and what did he end up with? A demon that wanted to chat his ear off.

**'I'm not that bad Gaara, I could be so much worse, and you know it."**

'Do I look like I want to talk today mother?' he thought still looking out at the village, which was now bathed in red light.

**"But look at that! That looks delicious! tasty delicious blood, warm sweet tangy blood, you know you want some."**

Gaara stood, his face blank. As he turned he heard a squeak. A trembling girl was behind him about twenty feet away. He glared at her.

**"How about her? right here ready and waiting. it's like she searched for you so I could have a snack. How nice of her."**

"What?" Gaara snapped looking at the still shaking girl who inched closer.

"You are Gaara, Sabaku no Gaara, yes?" She asked, her voice portraying a calm that obviously not present.

"And." Gaara said simply ignoring the demon who was pushing him closer and closer to snapping.

**"Listen to your mother and give me blood."**

Gaara mentally sighed. 'No, this one's weak. We can find somebody better.'

"I have a message for you." Gaara watched as the girl dug through her bag with trembling hands before pulling out a small scroll and placing it on the sand in between them. Turning she quickly walked off back to where ever she had come. With a twitch of a finger the sand surrounding the scroll moved towards Gaara, and rose, dropping into his now opened palm. He scrutinized it. There were no special seals, no markings except for the tape that held the message shut. Opening and reading the small message, Gaara glared at the note before crushing and dropping it to the ground. Turning from his spot Gaara glanced up into the sky, it was almost a full moon. Looking away from the silver orb in the sky Gaara began his descent into the village.

Sand drifted along the road, following it's master. Gaara was walking in the empty village. The villagers knew that their demon was more active at night. Of course it was, he never slept. Those unlucky or stupid enough to venture outside usually never made it home. Shukaku's blood lust usually went rampant in the desert evenings, looking for a kill. Gaara walked to the park looking at the barren area he walked over to the swing and sat down.

This is how Gaara spent most of his nights, just sitting some place empty alone.

**"Why don't you just go to the training grounds hmmm? There might be somebody strong training there, and you wont have to move to find your new baggage. Pfft teammates who needs them? We should just kill them. The first people to show up, let's just kill'em."**

Gaara contemplated the idea. 'Somebody strong would appease mother...'

**"Damn right it would."**

'And his so called teammates would probably be extra baggage, they'd just hold him back.' Standing up Gaara glared at the shining orb in the sky. He started walking again until he noticed the light in the kazekage's office still on. Though he was the strongest shinobi in the village, he would be alone. It was 3am, yes, he'd be very much alone.

**"Gaara, I like where you're going with this, you truely are a wonderful son trying to get mother the blood of such a powerful ninja. But won't you need my help, my dear sweet son?"**

Gaara smiled, that frightening unnatural smile staring hungrily at the Kazekage tower. Tonight there would be only one person Gaara had eyes for. Shukaku smiled, relishing in the hateful emotions. Yes tonight was going to be fun. With that he bagan walking preparing himself for what would be the most satisfying kill.

The Kazekage sat very much alone at his desk. He could feel the blood lust radiating from down the street. Being a shinobi of kage caliber it was child's play to find the source. Gaara had finally realized that he had the powerful potential to kill the man who caused him so much pain. Standing from his desk, The kazekage smiled. Tonight he welcomed the challenge. He walked from the room and headed outside this was going to be fun.

Gaara had given most of himself up to Shukaku's power and was now running full speed on the roofs heading towards his destination.

**"Kill kill kill, maim him, cause him harm, make him pay, make him pay for what you are! Make him respect you, make him fear you. Make him beg for his miserable life before you rip his throat out! Let's make him suffer."**

With a chakra enhanced leap, Shukaku/Gaara smashed through the glass window, searching for their prey. They could smell his scent, his power. Smashing the desk, Gaara ran from the room searching for tonight's slaughter.

The Kazekage now outside had heard the clatter of glass, and the sound of splintering wood. He stood alone in the clearing, waiting it was only a matter of time before-Thump- The sound of feet landing on the sand was heard behind him. He smiled, it was time.

**Hehehe that was chapter 7 hope you liked, thanks for reading and for the reviews!**


	8. The power of the Kazekage

A Tough life

Chapter 8

The power of the Kazekage

The sun shined brightly in Sunagakure. Warm tendrils of light shone painting the desert village in soft morning light. Temari awoke with a stretch yawning as she looked over at the clock.

"Crap I'm late!" She gasped jumping up and frantically searching for clean clothes. Brushing the tangles from her hair Temari heard a loud thump and a swear come from down the hall. She smirked, it looked like Kankuro was in the same boat as her today. Putting up her hair in her four signature pigtails, Temari grabbed her fan and ran from her room.

"Kankuro, come on we're going to be late, let's go!" She yelled running into the kitchen looking for a quick breakfast. Finding an orange and an apple on the table she grabbed both, knowing her brother wouldn't even consider eating breakfast. Hurriedly Temari ran out the door, and right into Kankuro who jumped out from the window.

"Don't you ever use the door doll boy?" Temari asked knowingly pushing his buttons as she tossed him the apple.

"Yeah I use the door, but YOU said we were late fan girl" Kankuro said catching the piece of fruit and taking a bite. Together they made their way to the training grounds to meet their new team member and their sensei Baki. Luckily enough they arrived early enough to beat Baki and immediately began their morning training, starting with a spar. Moments later the jonin arrived with a poof of smoke and observed his students.

"Kankuro, you rely too much on your puppets, there will come a time where you will need to fight with out them. Temari, keep the fan, Kankuro lose your puppets, use only ninjutsu and taijusts no puppetry." Baki ordered, watching as said boy huffed in annoyance. Their battles continued for over an hour, Temari and Kankuro switching handicaps with Temari being fan less and Kankuro using his art of puppetry against her. As they fought, neither noticed their sensei staring in shock looking into the distance. Eventually Kankuro glanced over and was stunned at what he seen. Not noticing the staring, Temari took advantage of his distraction with a well placed kick, knocking her brother over.

"Kankuro why the hell weren't you.." She looked over, following his train of sight. "Paying...attention..." Temari was floored.

"What the hell." She murmured. Coming towards them in the distance was their father, the fourth Kazekage. But that was not what shocked them, being dragged through the sand by the back of his shirt was their youngest brother. They watched as the Kazekage came towards them stopping in front of Baki. Immediately the group bowed to their leader.

"This." he said roughly throwing Gaara's unconscious body into the sand in front of them. " Is your new teammate. If you can control the beast and survive prolonged periods of time in it's presence then you are worthy to be called by the Sabaku name." He handed Baki three Suna Forehead protectors. "You are officially Suna Genin. Try not to die, This is the lowest turn out of shinobi in years. The last thing we need is less protectors for this village."

Turning he walked out of the training grounds leaving the group very much alone. Baki handed Temari and Kankuro their headbands and pocketed Gaara's. They all stared at the boy who lay motionless in the sand. Baki reached down to move him when his sand shield blocked his way. Temari knelt down in front of her little brother.

"Gaara?" When she went to prod him the sand blocked her touch as well. Kankuro pulled her away when Gaara's hand clenched the sand in front of him.

"I think he's waking up."

Flashes went through Gaara's mind. His father moving at an incredible pace, Shukaku's blood lust pouring off him in waves, the smell of the blood he managed to draw off of the village leader, the feel of a rough hand squeezing the pressure point on his neck before he blacked out.

He could feel himself being dragged through the sand, yet he still could not move. He could feel his body in the air before slamming onto the ground. He could hear the Kazekage's words, yet they were muffled and barely legible. In and out of consciousness. in...out...in...Some body's trying to touch him, he could feel it. The sand stopped them. out... in...Another person came closer, one less hostile, yet he could feel the fear radiating off them. They, she called out his name softly. It sounded nice but nice sounding people could be deceiving, best to stick to the philosophy, trust no one, live for ones self. Again came the sand wall, blocking their touch. Another person, they were radiating frustration, fear...a different kind of fear, an accusing kind of fear,protectiveness, and anger. Gaara clenched his hand in the sand, the heat of the desert seemed to be burning his very soul. Cracking his eyes open he immediately squeezed them shut. It was way too bright out, growling in frustration he tried to stand, to hide his eyes from the blinding light. Gaara could feel the people who had once surrounded him scramble away, one seemingly pulled. Another voice was heard much more clearly.

"I think he's waking up." Gaara growled yet again as a sand barrier rose up, blocking out the sun. He sat up and let his eyes adjust to the brightness.

"Do you think he's alright?" Temari asked, looking at Baki. The jounin shrugged his shoulders and stayed silent, eying the barrier. Kankuro was weary, Gaara was unpredictable at the best of times but how were they to survive stuck on the same team with him?

"Sabaku no Gaara, I am your Jounin sensei, Baki. Today we will be sparring and I will be the judge of your talent." He turned to the other two siblings.

"Continue on with your training." Nodding in acquiescence the older genin went back to their spar leaving their little brother and sensei alone to watch. Slowly Gaara's sand shield began to melt into the ground. He stood watching his teammates battle arms folded across his chest his face a mask of blankness. Baki turned to him.

"You are able to move now yes?" Gaara simply glanced at the older man in annoyance before looking back to the fight.

"Yes." Baki nodded not taking his eyes off the boy.

"If I pair you with one of your teammates would you kill them? Or do you have some shred of control that the public believes you lack?" Turning his head slowly, Gaara glared daggers at Baki who mentally gulped but kept his appearance cool and controlled.

"Glare all you want that's not giving me my answer." Baki said cooly. Gaara's eyes narrowed as the sand around him became restless.

"If I wanted to kill them there would be nothing you could do to stop me." This time Baki looked visibly shaken. To think that a boy only ten years old could strike such fear into the hearts of so many people. Gaara stared at the man, contemplating what else he should tell him. He feared him, that was good.

**"They all fear you my son, they fear us. It's a beautiful thing. Can you smell it? They hate you. Only I love you, I'll keep you safe. You cant trust any of them. Especially the blonde girl."**

'Temari?'

**"Yes**_**, her **_**She tried to hurt you when you were younger, remember? I saved you. And the puppet boy tried to kill you that same day do you remember he tried bashing your head in with the lamp in the hall, remember?"**

'I think I remember.' Gaara tried recalling that incident so many years ago, all he got was flashes of fear anger and bloodlust.

**" I wouldn't lie to you. You know that."**

With those words, Shukaku settled in the back of Gaara's mind in her usual place leaving her host to think, brainwashing him with her false memories. Gaara steadily glared at Temari, watching the blonde's every move. She noticed the feeling Gaara was giving off. It was the same predatory feeling she got from Shukaku so many years ago, and shuddered because of it and lost focus in her fight with Kankuro, barely dodging as his puppet crow sliced her shoulder.

"Shit Temari are you alright? I'm sorry!" Kankuro yelped as he seen the blood gush from her shoulder as she gasped in pain. Dropping the chakra strings holding crow up he ran over to check on his sister. Baki walked over as well to inspect the wound.

Gaara fidgeted as he watched the red liquid pour over her hands. Shukaku inhaled deeply.

**Do you smell that? Delicious, mmm Her blood always smells so sweet. Look at it, dripping, flowing.**

Gaara watched as the blood began dripping on to the sand. Turning from the sight he began walking away from the training grounds. These people were his teammates. They wouldn't do any good to him dead.

"That's going to need stitches." Baki said as he inspected Temari's wound. They looked around and noticed that they were one short.

"Where the hell did that boy go?" Baki snapped looking around. Kankuro was too freaked out by hurting his sister to care, or even bother looking around for Gaara, but Temari, though wounded fully understood what happened.

"Gaara always leaves some place if he doesn't have full control over his emotions. Shukaku probably stirred him up over the sight and smell of the blood. So he left before he could do something that would be out of his control." Temari looked at her sensei and Kankuro. "Gaara isn't the monster either of you think he is.

"Again with that Temari, just give it up, our brother is gone." Kankuro said roughly meeting his sister's glare. How could she still have faith in his humanity? Did she not see the way he was staring her down like a piece meat? Gaara had looked at her like a predator looked at prey, and that to Kankuro was an extremely bad sign.

"Temari, he's not right in the head any-"

"Kankuro enough, you're just frustrating your sister. " Baki said placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Temari I believe what your brother's trying to tell you is not to put so much trust into Gaara immediately. Make him earn your trust, like you must earn his. If anything prove to him that you're an important aspect to this team. After all he was staring at you like the next lamb in line for the slaughter house. Just be wary of him for a while until he gives you proof that you can trust him. That goes for you as well Kankuro. Now both of you head to the hospital and get that wound taken care of. Training is over for today, tomorrow we run the possibility of going out on missions so be prepared. Dismissed." Turning Baki walked out of the training grounds.

**Chapter 8, done and done! Thanks for reading and reviewing, hope you guys enjoy the story!**


	9. Shukaku's wrath

A Tough life

Chapter 9

Shukaku's wrath

Kankuro winced as he watched the needle pushing through his sister's skin. He shuddered as the plastic like thread closed the gash and pulled the skin close together.

"Kankuro, really you don't have to watch if you're getting this freaked out you know." Temari said in an amused voice. For some unknown reason Kankuro had insisted waiting with his sister while she got her stitches.

"I'm really sorry, I never meant to cut you. It was an accident." Temari sighed for the millionth time that day.

"Kankuro, I know you didn't mean to do it, and if I had been paying attention I wouldn't even be in this very small predicament here." Temari honestly could care less about the stitches, she's had them before and she'd end up needing them again, it's what happens when you're a close range fighter. Kankuro'd end up learning that sooner or later. Finishing up, the nurse smiled.

"Wow, twelve stitches and not even a flinch. Even for a ninja, that's brave. My brother only needed four and he whined like a baby." Temari smirked. "Well, hon be careful with your training and keep activity lighter than usual, you don't want to rip out the stitches after all. However being an on duty genin I know that light work will be out of the question so take this with you for your missions OK?" The nurse said handing Temari a small bottle of thick liquid.

"What is it for?"Temari asked looking at the globby green goo.

"It's a cauterizer. It'll stop the flow of blood, think of it like an instant scab...But you should only use it if the stitches rip open." Temari nodded as she stood, letting the nurse finish bandaging her arm.

"Thank you for your help and advice." Temari said with a smile. Motioning for her brother they walked out of the hospital heading home.

**"When will you ever learn? They're out to get you and you just wasted the perfect opportunity to slaughter them all."**

'They're no use to me dead. Besides, there's many more people stronger than them that would probably taste much better and with out them we can't leave the village with out conflict.'

**"For once you hold a valid point. fine. We'll let them live, but I still want the blood you've been denying us both."**

"I know mother. The next one you want you get." The sand crunched softly under Gara's feet as he walked. Tonight Shukaku was in a dangerous mood, and thus Gaara was as well, the full moon shined brightly above in the sky illuminating the village in a blue silver light. Walking through the village people scattered at the sight of the boy. Shukaku ticked off the people as they walked down the road.

**"No, too fatty, too bony, not strong enough..."**Shukaku began sniffing, picking up an enticing scent. Gaara's head moved around trying to locate the person Shukaku had in mind.

**"There."**She said hungrily. Gaara smirked, an Anbu level ninja hiding in plain sight. They would be completely invisible to normal civilian eyes, but not to the jinchuriki's senses. Gaara stretched his hand out directing the sand towards the Anbu. In a sudden flash of sand the man was surrounded and crushed, slowly. As the sand tightened the ninja screamed in agony. Tendrils of sand forced their way down the man's throat, mutilating him from the inside out, crushing the Anbu's organs in succession of when the sand found them, leaving the heart, and a single lung for last. They wanted him to feel every, little, thing. The sand absorbed the blood, drawing it out. Shukaku relished in the once formidable man's dying screams.

**"Yes, delicious. To think I've been satiated with such weaklings in the past years. More, I WANT MORE!"**

Gaara gladly obliged, the moon was making his blood boil, and tonight he was enjoying the slaughter.

**I told you you enjoyed this as much as I did, and you know what they say, you can't spell slaughter with out laughter.**

With that Gaara gave Shukaku control as she let out an ungodly sounding laughter, this was only the beginning.

A jounin ran through the hallway of the Kazekage tower panting. It was bad, very bad. He had doubted that he had seen such horrors in his entire career.

"Lord Kazekage!" The man gasped as he burst into the room. "Lord Kazekage, we have an S class emergency. Shukaku's taken over, half of the south wing has been slaughtered!" The kazekage was staring out the window with his back turned to the jounin. Screams could be heard from the tower, and Ninja could be seen scrambling towards the mayhem. Yes indeed things were bad.

**MORE MORE MORE! BLOOD, FLOWING RIVERS OF DELICIOUS LIFE SUSTAINING BLOOD!**

Shukaku screamed relishing the screams of horror pain and fear. Civilians screamed as they were crushed, most were left alive. They were the bait for the bigger fish. Where ever civilians were in danger ninja were sure to follow.

A group of young ninja walking through the carnage looked around horrified and disgusted. Looking over one of the boys seen a civilian woman trying to move, quickly he ran over to assist her.

"NO! Get out of here it's it's a trap! It's a tra-AAAHHH!" The woman screamed as the sand dragged her into the dark alley. The sound of the crunching body rang through their ears. The boy seen the silhouette of the demon causing such destruction. He gasped in horror, backing away from the alley before tripping in the sand behind him. Tendrils of sand shot out and dragged the boy into the alley.

"NO! NOOOO!" he screamed clawing at the sand beneath him, scrambling to find some kind of hold as the ground sifted through his hands. The others in the group ran as fast as they could, escaping or so they thought, from immediate death. One by one the members of the group were picked off, leaving a lone genin girl trembling in fright. Panting she frantically ran through the southern sector of the village.

"Oh no,oh no,oh no, NO PLEASE NO!" Another scream rang through the village as the genin girl dove behind a dumpster suppressing her chakra. Another girl she had been familiar with in the academy was just snatched away by the demon boy, and she had hidden just in time. After a sickening crunch from the shadows the ichibi beast stalked by, not even registering the lowly genin's existence. As soon as he stalked away the girl ran as fast as she could to the gate that sectioned off the southern sector and began pounding on the doors pleading for her entry. Not a sound was heard from the other side. Suddenly sand began creeping through the cracks towards her, gasping in shock she turned to run, but was face to face with the demon himself.

**"Going some where? You didn't think I'd miss a lowly genin like yourself did you?"**

"I'm not going to beg you to spare my life Sabaku no Gaara. I just thank you for not taking it earlier this week when I delivered you that message. I only ask that you make it q-quick. M-my teammates s-suffered g-greatly. T-this I know." She said as tears began streaming down her face.

The demon tilted Gaara's head at the girl's words before smiling maliciously.

**"I think I'll let you live. Live with this nightmare for the rest of your days child. I'll come for you eventually."**

The girl gaped in shock as the demon turned and walked away, leaving her alone in the bloody massacre of the southern sector, covered in the blood of her teammates.

"Mother, that was cruel." Gaara said in Shukaku's subconsciousness.

**"Aaah, my son, there's still much for you to learn. Sometimes it's worse to live with haunting knowledge than to put them out of their misery. That wouldn't be very demon like of me would it?"**

Gaara thought about it for a moment before answering.

"Yes, sometimes it is indeed more damaging to just let them suffer isn't it?" He smiled maliciously at the thought.

**"Well, I believe we've caused enough fear tonight, however all fun must come to an end. Clean up the bait will you? They're starting to give me a headache."**

Shukaku then buried herself into Gaara's subconsciousness going into hibernation. Slowly Gaara returned to his own senses. Breathing in the air around, he could smell the carnage. Slowly he walked through the destroyed portion of the village looking for survivors of Shukaku's wrath and mercilessly slaughtering them with a sand coffin/burial combo technique.

As he walked towards the gate, the same genin girl was still there, however she had now sunk to the ground on her knees. Gaara walked by her and she didn't even flinch."Please, tell me you've changed your mind...Please, I can't live with these memories. I can't, I can't do it please just kill me, just end my life. PLEASE!"

Gaara watched as the girl groveled at his feet, begging for her death, for release. He narrowed his eyes at the girl before walking away. Suddenly she ran at him with a kunai as she prayed for death. Gaara's sand shield blocked her attack, and as she fell he manipulated the sand pinning her against the wall, her hands above her head, making her drop her weapon. He walked over to the girl stopping in front of her he stooped and picked up the kunai before shoving it through both her hands, pinning her against the wall. She screamed in pain and frustration.

"Why won't you just kill me already?" she bagan sobbing as he turned wordlessly and walked away.

"Because, life is worse than death." Gaara said simply as he walked away from the carnage before vanishing into the distance.

"Lord Kazkage. Reports have come back from the five village sectors. It appears that only the southern sector was affected. Both ninja and civilian alike were slain." The Kazekage stared at the Jounin before him.

"How many casualties?"

"47 ninja of all ranks, they were all residents of the southern sector. And 134 civilians, apparently they were used as bait to draw in the ninja."

"No survivors I presume?" The Kazekage said flipping through the damage reports.

"Actually there was one."

"What?" The kazekage said looking up from his paperwork for the first time.

"Who is it? What rank is he?" 'If he could survive Gaara's onslaught then maybe he could kill him.'

"_She's _Kaiya Tsukino. Suna genin, however it was how she was found that raises such mystery. She was pinned by a kunai through both hands against a wall. When we arrived she was found begging for death. She claimed that the demon refused on multiple occasions to kill her. Obviously she's delirious, and hallucinogenic."

"Anything else?"

"Yes, she kept repeating the phrase 'Life is worse than death.' over and over again."

With a wave of his hand, the kazekage dismissed the jounin and went back too his paperwork smirking under his white sheet like mask.

'Indeed Gaara, sometimes life IS worse than death.'

"So Baki sensei what's our first mission?" Kankuro asked glancing to the slightly eager Temari to his left, and the dead silent Gaara to Baki's right.

"Today we will be spending the day as part of a cleanup crew in the southern sector of the village. Apparently there was some kind of riot late last night.

"Well, that would explain the screaming I heard." Temari said scratching her chin lightly. "What started it?"

"Not a clue." Baki said as they walked towards the sectioned off area. As they entered Three of the team members froze in shock, while Gaara continued onwards, barely noticing the crusted layer of blood that coated the majority of the area. Gaara disappeared into the sector, leaving his team behind.

"This was no riot." Kankuro said his eyes huge in horror. Temari looked around feeling very sick.

"I-I can't believe he could." She gagged at the smell, covering her mouth. unfortunately Kankuro didn't have such control over his gag reflex as he immediately lost his breakfast.

"Baki sensei, w-where in the world do we start!" Temari asked, trying not to give in to the retching feeling of her stomach.

"We start where ever that monster isn't." Kankuro said spitting the last of the vommit from his mouth, a disgusted look on his face. Temari gave Kankuro no look of discouragement, no stern lecture of how Gaara was still their baby brother, still their otouto-chan. Because, now Temari finally came to terms that their little brother was lost a long long time ago, their father had seen to that.

**Chapter 9 hope you liked. Thanks for the reads and reviews! Chapter 10 will be up soon enough!**


	10. Welcome to konoha

A tough life

Chapter 10

Welcome to Konoha

Missions, assassination attempts and years later the Suna genin stood before their sensei.

"Coming up is the Chunin selection exams, We will join with Sound and wage war against Konoha. Remember that this wil be an A+ ranked mission." Gaara stood motionless against the wall silent but paying close attention. Kankuro sat on the chair near his sister Temari who looked enraged at the news.

"A war? why? why NOW? We've spent so much time and sacrificed so much to arive at this treaty, this aliance, and now we're going to just throw that away so many will die again? What's the point of that?"

Baki put on a hardened face.

"Shinobi are instruments of conflict and war. Besides this treaty is a threat to our village. That idiot diamyo of the land of wind used the treaty to cut back on our military in the village. When the head is a fool, it is us, the hands and feet that suffer the consequences. In order to keep up it's military strength ninja like you were 'manufactured'...Gaara" Baki said turning to stare at the now glaring boy. However Gaara stayed silent, waiting for Baki to continue.

"Right now the land of wind is in peril. Your father, our Kazekage sensed this and decided to join forces with sound to show the diamyo how naieve he infact is. If we put this off any longer our time to strike will be lost."

Again Baki turned to the silent Gaara.

"Gaara, this mission's success depends heavily on you." Kankuro and Temari turned to stare at their brother who opened his eyes and glowered at them

"I know." Gaara said before walking from the room.

Four days later the Suna genin and their sensei arrived in the plush green forest of Konohagakure located in the land of fire. Escorted to the Hokage's office, their passes and identification was granted and they were allowed free range of the village. Too easy Baki thought as their papers were stamped. They walked to their hotel rooms and dropped off their gear before converging into Baki's room.

"Alright, go walk around the village, get the lay of the land, take note anything important looking, people, kekkai genkai, places, try and learn about your enemy. Dismissed."

Temari, Kankuro and Gaara walked from the room, but the second they passed the thresh hold, Gaara poofed into a gust of sand and vanished.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, eh Temari?" Kankuro said nudging his sister playfully.

"Kankuro, you know we have to be all buisness keep the goofing off to a minimum at least, alright?

"Yeah, yeah." Together they walked off, taking in all the sights Konoha had to offer. Walking down an alley way a small boy crashed right into Kankuro, who proceded to pick the boy up by the neck of his shirt.

"KONOHAMARU!" a blonde boy yelled as the smaller boy was hoisted into the air.

"That hurt you little brat!" Kankuro said menacingly to the boy, smirking as he wimpered in fear.

"Knock it off." Temari snapped "You're gonna get it if he comes back." She warned giving her brother a glance.

"I'm so so sorry!" A girl with pink hair said nervously. "We were just fooling around, it was an accident."

"Put him down you ape!" the loud blonde yelled again. Kankuro smirked as he noticed their headbands. So these are the Konoha genin, they won't be much of a challenge.

"Aww, cmon, I just wanted to play with him while we're waiting for that nuisence to get here!"

"YOU BIG JERK!" The blonde boy again yelled as he ran at them. With a simple flick of his finger, Kankuro tripped the loudmouthed genin with one of his chakra strings. Kankuro scoffed,

"What a wimp, is this really the best Konoha's genin can do?"

Two other small kids yelled out the first boy's name and began crying. The blonde began yelling but in the middle of his speech the pink haired girl put him in a choke hold.

"You're really starting to annoy me, It doesn't help that I hate small fry with you being a shrimp who disrespects your elders. You make me want to kill this kid here!' Hearing that the two smaller kids began sobbing, horrified for their friend. Temari sighed in annoyance.

"I...Will _not _be held responsible for this." She said placing her hands on her hips and stepping away from her brother.

"YOU-!" The blonde yelled

"So I'll finish up tiny here and then move on to shorty over there." Kankuro said getting ready to hit the small fry in his hand. The blonde orange clad ninja charged, but before either could make their mark, Kankuro was struck on the wrist with a pretty sizable rock. Hissing in pain and annoyance, Kankuro dropped the boy, Konohamaru, who landed to the ground with a loud thump.

"So." said another boy's voice.. "What are you guys doing in our village?" Temari stared up in to the tree and smirked. This kid must be pretty good to hit kankuro with a stone like that. She thought, as she nearly went deaf from the pink haired girl's squeal of:

"IT'S SASUKE!" Kankuro glared at the raven haired Sasuke boy. Kankuro tried playing it cool as he scoffed.

"Oh lookie, another brat."

"Get lost." Sasuke said, the arrogance evident in his voice. The two Konoha girls squealed in fan-girldom as Konohamaru pointed to the orange boy and loudly yelled at him.

"Naruto you suck!" The rest was lost as the boy began mumbling. The orange boy, Naruto began fuming as he stared at the raven haired Sasuke.

"Think you're pretty smart huh?" Kankuro growled as he pulled the cloth holding his puppet crow to his back loose. Temari stepped forward again trying to stop her brother.

"Tell me you're not planning on using the crow!" she said in an exasperated voice. Suddenly a familiar voice rang through the clearing.

"Kankuro! Don't." Gaara said hanging upside down near Sasuke, who jumped at their brother's voice.

"You're a disgrace to our entire village." he said coldly, his voice laced with venom. The konoha genin stared in shock, while Temari glanced between her brothers nervously.

"G-Gaara.." KKankuro said as the jinchuriki stared him down.

"It annoys me that you'd lose control in a fight with children. Do you even remember why we're here?" Anybody other than Gaara's siblings would only hear curt politeness in the boy's voice, but Temari and Kankuro knew it well, and it was close to the danger zone.

"But Gaara they started it..." Kankuro whined pointing childishly at the leaf genin. "The little one slammed me!" Gaara glared at the older boy.

"Shut up...Or I'll kill you." Kankuro shivered in fear as Gaara glared at him

"You're right, I was out of line." Kankuro said hurriedly as Temari stepped forward.

"We're sorry, okay Gaara, really really sorry!" she said holding her hands up. Sand began to gust around Gaara as the raven haired boy stared in shock. So this boy nailed Kankuro with a stone, that took skill. Appearing in between his siblings Kankuro immediatley began apologising again.

"I swear it won't happen again."

"We may be early but we're not here to play around. let's go." As they turned to follow their brother, the pink haired girl called out to them.

Wait!" Gaara turned.

"Yes?"

"According to your headbands, you guys are from the hidden sand village." 'No duh.' Temari thought staring at the nasely fangirl know it all.

"You guys are our allies according to the treaty, but you aren't supposed to be with in our boarders, so state your reason for being here, we can't just let you go on your way."

'Yep definately a know it all.' Temari thought as she pulled out her authorization papers.

"We're here to take the chunin exams."

"What are those?" Naruto asked. '

Yep, so there is an idiot in the group.' Temari went into a mini lecture about the purpose of the exams, only to find that the foolish blonde wasn't even paying attention.

"Damn it! when somebody's explaining something you'd do best to pay some freekin' attention!" she snapped at the oblivious boy. Suddenly the raven haired Sasuke jumped down from the tree.

"Hey you there! What's your name?"

"Huh? w-who me?" Temari asked, slightly flustered from just yelling at the blonde idiot.

"NO. The kid beside you." Sasuke said flatly staring at her brother.

"Gaara of the desert, at your service. And you are?" The boy smirked arrogantly before giving his answer.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Temari and Kankuro watched as the two boys began staring each other down. Suddenly the blonde boy piped up loudly.

"Hey! Don't you wanna know my name?" he asked eagerly.

"No." Gaara said as he turned away from the loud boy towards his team.

"Let's go." With that the siblings jumped off, following their youngest, yet strongest member. Half way across the village they came to a stop infront of a resturant.

"Kankuro, what the hell were you thinking!" Temari snapped, whacking her brother upside the head. As the two older genin argued, Gaara cleared his throat effictively silencing them.

"If you do that again, I will kill you Kankuro." Gaara said glaring at the boy. Turning he vanished into a poof of sand, leaving his siblings.

"What the hell's his problem?"Kankuro asked looking at an irritated Temari.

"You were about to do something stupid that could have gotten us in trouble and booted from the exams, that's what you did, you idiot!" Temari sighed looking around.

"Come on, we might as well get lunch while we're here." Temari walked into the resturant, Kankuro tailing after her. The resturant was a barbecue place filled with people, and as the siblings ate they listened to conversation, mostly to the group at the table in front of them.

"Umm, where do you think sensei went?" an almost in audible whisper said. Temari almost resisted the urge to turn and see the person that the voice belonged to. Probably some one small dark and quiet.

"Ah Hinata you worry too much!" a gruff sounding boy said. Moments later a yipping bark was heard, and this time Temari did turn around.

"What kind of place lets you bring a dog into a resturant?" The puppy was sitting in his master's hood, right behind Temari. When she turned around, the dog did as well, falling on to her.

"What the hell!" She yelled as the dog yelped landing on her lap. Kankuro watched as his sister and the dog had a staring match while the group behind them scrambled over.

"I-I'm s-so sorry f-for my t-teammates behavior." The dark haired pale eyed girl stuttered staring at the sand ninja, as she fidgeted her fingers looking apologetic and weak. Kankuro actually laughed at the girl, who flinched at the sound.

"Ha, to think they have such weak people as shinobi here. C'mon are they so hard up for ninja that they're using the blind? Pathetic." The girl's eyes were downcast as her breath caught in her throat.

"Hey!" The gruff sounding boy yelled. "You can't just talk to Hinata like that, she's stronger than you know, she could probaly kick both of your butts!"

"K-KIBA! Please stop t-talking p-please." Hinata said nervously looking back and forth between her teammate with the red fang markings the boy called Kiba and Kankuro. She was obviously intimdated by the puppeteer, but Kiba was oblivious to that.

"You want to prove that you flea bitten brat?"

"Damn right you cat eared freak! Hinata could kick your ass any day!"

"Kiba, you're being too rash, Hinata doesn't want this." a mysterious looking boy said to Kiba.

"Shut it Shino, Hinata'll be fine!"

"Enough!" Temari yelled that look of nervous panic on the girl's face was over whelming, and Temari could tell that even though she probably could be strong, she wasn't confident enough to do any damage.

"Kankuro sit down, or _I'll _kill you! Gaara won't even get the chance!" Temari was pissed and immediately Kankuro sat down and closed his mouth.

"And you dog boy! Can't you see that this girl is completely uncomfortable? If she's your teammate then act like it! Instead of throwing her into obviously outclassed matches prove your own strength!" Temari snarled at the boy, who shrank back and flinched. Temari turned towards Hinata who obviouslly flinched expecting the same kind of treatment. Instead the dog was placed in her hands and she was given a smile. However when she rounded back on Kankuro all smiles were gone.

"And you you ignorant prick! Had you paid any attention in school you'd know that she's not blind, she has one of the potentionally strongest kekkai genkai in Konoha!" Again Temari turned to Hinata. "You're a Hyuga right?" Hinata flinched at the question before nodding. "So you're a carrier of the Byakugan, interesting. That's one of the bloodline traits we learned in class Kankuro. God, I should just punch you in the head!" Now turning to the mysterious Shino. "And you, at least you stood up for your teammate." She said nodding her head as he nodded back. Their food arrived while Temari again rounded on her brother, this time instead of loudly repremanding him she pulled him aside.

"If you think for one second I'm going to let you make us stand out enough as it is and draw more attention to our presence then you have another thing coming. What the fucking hell is wrong with you? Do you want to make this mission a failure?" Temari hissed. Finally the Konoha genin went back to their table as their own meals arrived. After lunch The suna siblings went back to their hotel.

"What the hell happened?" Baki asked, the moment they had entered. Temari sighed.

'Now what?'

"What now sensei?" Kankuro said annoyance tinging his voice. Baki punched him upside the head.

"You! You idiot! They've already sent Anbu giving a warning to either get your act under control or leave! Any more disturbances and it'll be your head Kankuro!"

"Fine, I'll lie low until the start of the exam" Kankuro said with a huff.

"NO you will stay HERE until the start of the exam in two day's time. Temari, continue to scout the village taking note of the note worthy. Gaara's doing the same."

'I hope.'

**There's chapter 10! hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading and for the reviews!**


	11. Not all bad

A Tough life

Chapter 11

Not all bad

Gaara stood alone on top of the Hokage monument over looking the village. But which part to go to? In this village they knew nothing about his tennant. He could walk through this town like a normal person if he wished it. With a twitch of his lip, more like an instant there and gone smirk, Gaara lept from the monument, the sand forming a rail for him to slide down. The Jinchuriki slid down the rail with ease, jumping to avoid the trees and branches near the cliff face. Flipping away from the rocky ledge in his path, Gaara continued sliding down the sand rail and finally landed on the ground below in a crouch. In a fluid movement the crouch turned into a walk as the young genin continued scoping the village. There was nobody in particurlar that would be a danger to their mission.

**"Have you already forgotten about that Uchiha boy? Arrogant little prick. Let's kill him."**

"We can't simply disregard this mission mother. We can't just kill him off. people would notice his dissapearance, especially with him being the last Uchiha. However, if he died during the exam it would be simply written off as typical exam casualties. We'll do it then. His blood from such a line would be most appropriate for you, would it not?"

**"Yes, his blood would be most delicious. We will go for him, he's weak. There is another with enormous strength as well, more so than the Uchiha."**

Gaara was truly curious. Who had he missed as he scanned the village so far? If mother found them strong then how had he missed them?

"Who was it?"

**"If you really want to know, you'll find out on your own." **Gaara mentally sighed. Sometimes it was really annoying to be a Biju host.

**"You know you love me Gaara."**

"hmph." The Suna genin walked through the crowded Konoha plaza looking for a place to scope out potential enemies. Another familiar figure from earlier in the day walked past him. The loud blonde boy with the whisker marks. Gaara almost scoffed, there was no way this could be the person mother was talking about. Loud and brash were usually displayed to cover faults and weaknesses. He continued on towards a park hoping for some silence. Two other boys were there at the park. A boy with a spiky brown pony tail, and a larger boy with swirls on his cheeks. Gaara recognized them from the village. Their sensei was in Suna's bingo book for being a former member of the guardian shinobi twelve. Sarutobi Asuma. The two boys simply lay on the ground staring up at the sky. Gaara continued walking until he reached a clearing with a set of swings. A lone girl sat alone on the furthest swing. Though Gaara would normally shun the presence of others he sat on the swing furthest from the girl choosing to just ignore her.

"I've never seen you here before." The girl said looking over at the red haired Gaara. He glanced at the girl, making eye contact before looking back ahead.

"You're not from around here are you?" Again Gaara glanced at the girl. Why was she talking to him?

**"Because she doesn't know _what_ you are."**

"Don't you ever go away?" Gaara thought bitterly as Shukaku again stirred this time laughing at the boy she resided in.

**"You're funny that would be like me asking if you were "Normal. You're lucky I'm here. I'm the only person who will accept you for what you are."**

Gaara shut her out. Silence was something he enjoyed the most and the park at night was the best place to find it. However, it looked like silence wasn't something he was going to enjoy tonight.

"So, who are you?" The girl asked. Gaara mentally sighed, yep, no quiet time tonight.

"My name is Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara said simply, continuing to stare ahead hoping the girl would take the hint and stop talking.

"I'm Nia Kitamura!" The girl said brightly sending a beaming smile at the jinchuriki who ignored it.

"You don't talk much do you?" Her question was answered with silence.

"You're cute!" Nia announced loudly. Gaara almost fell off the swing from shock.

"What?" This girl was so confusing, and she simply talked to him as if he were normal, Gaara was more confused about this place now more than ever.

"I said that you're cute! We should be friends, wanna go play Gaara-kun?" Gaara stood and walked away from the confusing girl and the park, taking notice as the girl followed after him.

"C'mon, why don't you wanna play with me?" the bubbly girl whined. Gaara glanced over his shoulder.

"Ninjas don't play." He said simply as he moved forward. The girl continued to follow him.

"But Gaara-kun, I'm a ninja too! We're still kids so it's ok to play every once and a while."

'This happy creature is a ninja? What world did she come from?' "You're a ninja? What are you, eight?"

**"Oh my, 'Gaara-kun', was that almost a hint of sarcasm? I never thought you were even capable of such a feat."**

'Shut it damn you!' Gaara thought irritably to Shukaku who narrowed her eyes angrily. She did NOT like being ignored, especially in favor of a pathetic sack of flesh and bones.

Nia crossed her arms indignantly. "No, I'm ten and a half. And I'm studying to be a medic ninja, so I don't have a team yet, but I'm already a genin!" The girl said happily as she watched her new friend grimace.

"Hey, are you alright Gaara-kun?" Shukaku had sent a painful surge of chakra through Gaara's head creating an instant migraine. Holding his eyes shut tight, a hand automatically came up clutching his head as he growled.

'Alright mother I'm sorry, can you make it stop now?'

**"Too late, the damage is done, looks like you'll just have to deal." **Shukaku said harshly

"**That's what you get for being so-" **Shukaku stopped speaking as the beast and her container suddenly felt a rush of relief. Gaara cracked open an eye to see glowing blue-green hands near his head. As he pulled away the chakra in the girl's hands stopped glowing as she lowered them with a smile.

"There ya go!" Nia continued to smile at the boy before her.

"Thank you." Gaara said curtly, he was slightly amazed as her smile grew brighter.

"Not a problem at all, just doing what I've been trained to do!" The girl said as she dusted off her pale yellow sundress.

"Nia! Where have you been?" A woman's frantic voice cried out.

Gaara immediately stiffened, and that fact surprised him. When did he let his guard down? The red headed boy watched through narrowed eyes as the older woman ran over.

'Great, another reminder of my childhood, the woman's going to freak snatch her kid out of here and run screaming for the hills, just like they always do.'

**"Would you expect anything less deserving to happen to you? You're a monster to them, that's all you'll ever be."**

Gaara prepared himself for the shrieks of fear from the older woman, but was surprised to see her smiling warmly towards him.

"Sorry Auntie, I was playing on the swings and made a new friend, but he got a headache so I made it all better!"

Gaara looked at the woman, she was Nia's complete opposite, while the girl had honey colored tan skin, her aunt's was pale. Nia had short wavy brown hair while her aunt's was long straight and blonde she also had ice blue eyes, while Nia's were the color of chocolate.

"Hello there, I'm Koori( pronounced ko-oh-ri it means ice), Nia's aunt, and you are?" Before Gaara could speak Nia piped up.

"He doesn't talk much Auntie, but this is Gaara-kun, he's nice and he's a ninja too!"

"Really now? Are you going to be participating in the chunin exam this year Gaara-kun?"

'People here are nice, weak but nice...'

**"Of course their weak! Nothing like YOU could live in a place like this and leave it untainted, that's exactly why- Hey are you listening to me?"**

Gaara couldn't help himself but to answer as he steadily ignored Shukaku and the throbbing stabs of pain she was sending him.

"Yes, my siblings and I are going to participate in the chunin exams."

'Strange, it seems so much easier to talk to these people.' Gaara could feel Shukaku tearing away at the back of his mind, surprisingly he found that he liked the girls company. Time passed as the trio talked, though it was mostly Nia and her aunt, Gaara was content to listen. Suddenly Koori gasped.

"Oh my gosh, Nia we're supposed to be at the restaurant with your uncle Kaji!" Nia's aunt jumped up and ran in another direction, but not before saying to Gaara,

"Nice to meet you Hun!" Koori waved and raced off leaving Nia and Gaara alone again.

"It was nice to meet you Gaara-kun! I'm at the swings every day. See you later!" The bubbly girl ran off and as she rounded the corner she passed a Suna ninja, looking for his young charge.

"Oh no oh no he's gonna KILL me!" Nia yelped as she checked the time and headed towards the restaurant after her aunt.

'This is the third time this week!' the young girl thought as she continued onwards. Immediately the older ninja headed towards the direction the girl was running from and found who he was looking for.

"Gaara what did you do to that girl?" Baki snapped staring at the sand wielding ninja before him. Gaara glared icy daggers at the man before preforming a hand sign and vanishing into a cloud of sand.


	12. Chunin exams 1 of 3

A Tough life

Chapter 12

Chunin exams 1 of 2

The day of the chunin exams arrived quickly and together the sand trio began walking from their hotel, however they were stopped by their sensei.

"Don't forget, today you will be doing a cognitive test, however it will be two tests in one, they're not only testing your knoweledge, but your skills in spying and how discretely you can do so. That is only the first part, the second part will be a survival challenge while trying to secure a pair of scrolls. Do not mess this up." Baki said as the group turned and began walking. Kankuro growled as they turned the corner.

"Why was Baki sensei just staring at me when he said 'Don't mess it up'? I'm not that bad at sneaking around and finding secrets."

"Kankuro, you're the worst in the group, even Gaara's better than you." Temari said with a smirk, knowing she was pushing her brother's buttons. As Kankuro was about to shout back he was cut off by his brother.

"You two shut up we're here." Immediately they quieted themselves, following their brother into the building. Climbing the stairs, the trio passed by two genin looking boys who were casting a genjustu. As they walked past, one of the boys called out.

"Hey the chunin exams are through here." Kankuro raised an eyebrow while Temari sent the pair a withering look. Gaara just continued onwards.

"We're not stupid you know. We know there's a genjutsu and it's obvious that this is the second floor, go trick some leaf genin, their dull enough to fall for that." The blonde Sabaku child said as she shoved her brother forward in an attempt to keep up with Gaara. They were one of the first teams to arrive in the exam room. Temari sat against a desk waiting for the rest of the teams to arrive. With in an half hour the room was jam packed with genin from most all hidden villages, and after a scuffle with a trio of sound ninja and and some foolish leaf genin boy, the exam proctor arrived in a cloud of smoke.

"Alright brats! Sit down, shut up and pay attention because I don't repeat myself." The genin immediately sat down and paid attention.

"My name is Morino Ibiki, I am the proctor for the first part of your exams. Please come up and take a number from this bag, this will be your seat for the test." As they lined up and took numbers, teams were separated, the suna siblings included. Gaara sat in the middle of the room, Kankuro ended up in the back to the left, and Temari ended up near the door they had entered in the front of class. Ibiki began explaining his rules for the exam and once he finished talking the class flipped over the written portion of their chunin tests. Ocasionally proctors would walk around the room on the look out for prying eyes. Suddenly kunais were thrown onto the desks of several students as the jumped back in shock.

"You two, gather your respective team members and get out. You make me sick." Ibiki growled

One by one kunais were embedded into desks as students and their teams were forced to leave the exam room in shame. Gaara leaned back in his chair until he caught his brother's eye, steadily glaring at him.

'Jeeze Gara I get it.' The older boy thought with annoyance as the proctor behind him stood up and circled the room like others before him had done. Once he returned, Kankuro raised his hand.

"I need to use the restroom." The same proctor walked him from the room.

'These Konoha ninja sure are worse off than I expected, they didn't even notice an extra proctor in the room.'

"Alright, now write down the answers and we're good." Kankuro watched as the proctor's eye turned to sand and began to manipulate the puppet's hand writing down the answers on a separate piece of paper.

Temari sat anxiously waiting for her brother and the 'Proctor' to return.

"Alright Brats, it's time for the final question!" The door opened as Kankuro and the 'Proctor' returned. As he passed by Temari's desk he dropped a small piece of paper which the fan user covered with her foot. After Kankuro settled down the Scarred man began speaking.

"Alright, those who wish to move on and become chunin must decide weather they wish to take the final question, if you refuse, you fail, but if you accept and get it wrong then you can never become chunin, you'll remain a genin for the rest of your miserable lives." At these words there was a considerable uproar from the room. Eventualy people started raising their hands and there teams were cleared from the room. Gaara simply glared at the boy next to him who raised his hand immediately. Temari took another approach, the girl seated next to her was waivering. The blonde let out a sigh.

"To think, if the tenth question is wrong you can never advance, You would not only fail your dreams, but to think that my entire family could be shamed as well, I'd even be letting my friends down, Then they'd hate me..." Temari smirked as her two neighbors raised their hands and were removed from the room. Finally the loud mouthed blond from earlier in the week began blathering about never giving up, this the sand siblings tuned out. If this boy did what he aimed to then he would be making their jobs harder. By the time Gaara began paying attention again, Ibiki announced that they had all passed, then suddenly a strange lumpy form smashed through the glass window, a sign was hung from the ceiling with Kunai reading:

"Second exam Proctor Matarashi Anko ^_^ b "

"Ok, Everybody follow me!" With that the group stood following the eccentric woman from the school and into the woods.

"This is the path you will be taking tomorrow morning. Commit it to memory, This path leads to the forest of death, the site of your second exam. You will ALL meet me here at 9:00 am sharp, understood? Now get lost and get some rest, because you'll need it." Anko then dissapeared into a swirl of leaves. Temari looked around with annoyance as she scanned the crowds for her brothers. Finally finding Kankuro Temari forced her way through to get to him, but to her annoyance, he had yet to see her and began walking in another direction. Looking up she seen Gaara staring right at her as he stood on a branch, his face it's usual mask of blankness. He twitched his head ever so slightly signaling her to get up there with him. As Temari ascended the tree a cry of shock went through the crowd as the puppet ninja was lifted by his ankle into the air by an arm of sand.

"Let's go." Gaara said simply as his siblings followed his lead. They were back at the hotel in no time and only moments later Gaara vanished, much to Kankuro's relief and Temari and Baki's annoyance. However, as long as Gaara could control his 'tennant' they'd be fine.

**"So, let's see, what's on our agenda today hmmm?" **Shukaku said as Gaara walked through the crowded streets.

"What are you talking about now?"

**"Just making a list, there are plenty of people in this exam of yours that will put up a good fight, it'll make it all the more rewarding when you kill them, especially that-" **Shukaku was cut off at the sound of a familiar voice.

"Gaara-kun, Hi!" Gaara was surprised to see Nia peering over a large stack of books in her hands, as he glanced at their spines he took note that most were medical related.

"How were the first part of the chunin exams? Did you do well?" Nia was buzzing a mile a minute barely noticing as her books tipped precariously, almost crashing to the ground. She smiled noticing Gaara's sand keeping them upright.

"So, where were you going? Just checking out the town?" Gaara simply nodded. Again Nia smiled.

"Well, if you'd like I could show you around to some great places." Gaara was surprised, though he'd never show it through his blank mask. Why was this girl always so nice? Were people supposed to be this way, or was it Suna who was truly in the wrong in how people were treated...that had to be it.

"I would like that, thank you." Again Gaara was surprised, but this time at himself. He was GAARA, THE Gaara, he did not go on walks around foregin villages with cute girls, wait, when did she become a cute girl? What? No, He was Gaara, the very same Gaara who killed on a simple whim, the Gaara who lived alone, walked alone and stayed alone always, the very same Gaara who was feared through out Suna as a monster...But why was Nia so unafraid of him? Did he want her to be afraid? No, but what was with this girl?

**"Augh, **_**this **_**bug **_**AGAIN?**_** Really Gaara? You're going to simply follow this girl around like some kind of dog? Eventually she'll find about who and what you are. Maybe I should help her learn what you are..."**

**'And maybe teach her a lesson as well.' **Shukaku thought with a sharp toothed grin. Gaara's eyes widened a bit at Shukaku's threatening words as he mentally scolded himself. How in the world could he ever think he was normal enough to do even the simplest activities that involved another person? Was he really that stupid to think that just because they were in another village that she wouldn't do anything similar to the bloody masacers in Suna? Shukaku could just pop out and slaughter the entire village on a simple whim. Gaara who had been following a step behind Nia had stopped moving.

"Gaara-kun, are you alright?" Nia caught the brief flash of fear in his jade green eyes as he made a simple hand gesture and vanished with a cloud of sand leaving a confused and worried Nia alone in the middle of the street.

"I wonder what happened to make him do that? Did I say something wrong?"

'Maybe I should go apologise, but where does he stay? Doesn't the Hokage give rooms to people taking the chunin exams?' Nia continued walking towards her aunt and uncle's house, her uncle Kaji would know for sure. As she walked up the pathway to her house, Nia spotted her uncle in the garden. Nia's aunt and uncle grew medicinal herbs for Konoha's medical staff and hospital.

"Aaah, Nia welcome home. And you're back before sun down, what a treat my dear!" Kaji said with a smile. He was a tall well built man with dark red hair and brilliant green eyes. Every time Nia seen her aunt and uncle she couldn't help but laugh, with her aunt's blonde's and blues it was no wonder she was named Koori, or Ice, And her uncle's reds and greens not to mention his firey personality the fact that he was named Kaji or fire, Nia found humerous. But what truly made her laugh was the irony that "fire" and "Ice" actually got together and were a perfect match.

"Uncle, Im only staying long enough do drop these books off for Auntie, I need to find my friend and apologise, I think I offended him. Doesn't the hokage give rooms to the participants of the chunin exams?" Kaji raised an eyebrow.

"You offended somebody from another land? Some foregin diplomat you'd ever be." he said jokingly making Nia smirk. "Koori's in the drying room you can leave her books on her desk. And I'm quite sure that their usually on the western side of the village, the foregin participants..." Nia kicked him gently as she walked past.

"Thanks Uncle!" Nia dropped the books off and left the house once again in search of her friend.

Temari walked around the village in a seemingly careless manor, sure her weapon was back at the room, but that didn't mean she couldn't kick some ass if the situation called for it. Gaara had been gone for hours now and to be honest, even though Temari feared the younger boy, she still feared for him as well. Besides, Konoha was a pretty big place, she might as well explore for a bit anyways. Temari looked around and found many of the different places quite pleasing. While in Suna it would be hard to find flowers, here they were popping up like weeds, instead of sand, there was grass, lush green grass. Temari was lost in her thoughts when she bumped into another smaller girl.

"I'm so so so sorry!" She squeaked as she scrambled up from the ground to stare at the taller girl. Temari simply raised and eyebrow at the little squirt.

"You aren't hurt are you? Because I know medical jutsu if you are...and again i'm very sorry." Temari laughed, amused by the younger child.

"It would take a lot more than a simple bump on the ground to hurt a sand ninja like me, so no need to worry, I'm fine." Temari said watching as the girl's face changed from surprise to one of happiness.

"You're a sand ninja! My new friend's a sand ninja! Oh, speaking of him, I have to find him and apologise, I think I upset him." Temari was intregued.

"Well, tell me about him and I'll let you know where he might be, we're all at the same apartment building, so talk. Oh, and I'm Temari by the way." The younger girl smiled her dazzeling smile.

"I'm Nia."


	13. In between exams

A tough life

Chapter 13

In between exams

"I'm Nia." The bubbly girl said as she stared up at the tall tan and blonde Temari.

"Well, my friend's really quiet, he doesn't talk much, and he's about my age." Temari nodded waiting for the girl to continue as she scratched off people in the suna group who could be her possible "friend".

"Well, he's really nice and he has green eyes and he seems to prefer being by himself. Even though he looks scary I know he has a good heart, though I do wonder why he has such dark rings around his eyes..." Nia said quietly stopping when she noticed that Temari was no longer with her.

"Umm, Temari-san, are you ok?" The Suna girl who was once so friendly narrowed her eyes at the Konoha girl.

"Who are you really?" Temari said as her hand rested on the secret kunai in her sleeve. Nia was truly confused, but answered the older girl's question thoroughly.

"My name's Nia, I'm almost 11. I'm studying to be a medic ninja, I'm already a genin but I don't have a team yet. I live with my Aunt and Uncle, I go to school at the hospital to train my medical jutsu and all I want to do is tell Gaara-kun that I'm sorry if I offended him, and I wanted to know w-why he looked s-so scared." Nia said, her eyes swimming with tears under Temari's piercing stare.

"What do you mean he looked scared?" Temari asked, her hand releasing the kunai in her pocket, if her glare was enough to bring this girl to tears then she wouldn't have to worry about things getting messy after all.

"w-well, I was bringing my aunt some of her books from the hospital, a-and I saw Gaara-kun again and we talked and I offered to show him around the village so we were walking and suddenly he stopped and he looked so afraid and he just vanished in a swirl of sand, s-so I wanted to say sorry if it was my fault." Nia felt completely unglued now. Temari the sand ninja was one who was truly frightening.

'Well, I can tell that this girl's being honest, but could she really be talking about my brother being kind and nice with a good heart?' Suddenly memories of years ago flashed back.

_"NO! I'm not letting you out, you're just going to hurt her."_

_Temari's eyes welled up, her otouto was protecting her, he was fighting it. Fighting for her. She wanted to leave her hiding spot, Temari wanted to rush out and be the big sister and protect her little brother. It was not a need, but a desire to protect her loved ones, even if they were demon containers being possesed. But how to stop a possesion? She read it some where, Temari could faintly recall, but her thoughts were cut off by the return of the demonic voice._

_**"On the contrary son, I'm going to KILL her."**_

_"I said NO. She's my sister. I will not let you hurt Temari nee-chan." _

Another memory~~~

_"No, STOP IT!" The sand loosened and suddenly squeezed the tightest it ever had making Temari scream louder and cough up blood as the demon laughed._

_**"Can you feel it? feel your bones crack can you feel the warm crimson streams of blood dripping down your skin? I'll bet it tasts delicious."**_

_"Temari I'm sorry. I'm -I" Gaara stuttered_

_"I-I know you're trying O-Otouto, that's why I love you Gaara." _

Another memory~~~~~

_"Kankuro, Gaara's our brother. He'd never do anythig to intentionally hurt us."_

_Temari said laying in her hospital bed eating some pudding as her brother stared at her incrediously._

_"Temari LOOK at yourself, look what he did to you, how can you say this isn't his fault?" Kankuro asked raising his voice in frusteration. Temari glared at him._

_"Gaara did NOT do this to me! Shukaku did. Our BROTHER was trying to protect me from the demon inside of him. Did you not hear him beg that thing to stop? He begged Kankuro. Then he apologized to me because he couldn't stop it. No matter what, that little boy will always be my little brother, MY Otouto-chan!" She snapped shoving another spoonful of pudding in to her mouth glaring at the wall._

Another memory~~~~

_Temari watched feeling only pain as her youngest brother was thrown roughly to the ground by their father. She hadn't seen more than a glimpse of him in years. After their father left Temari bound over._

_"Gaara? Gaara are you alright?" As she reached forward to touch him, she was blocked by Shukaku's sand. The rest of the group approached, sudenly as his hand clenched the sand, Temari was roughly pulled back by Kankuro. She could see the fear and hatred in his eyes. Temari's very being was filled with sadness. How? That was the question on her mind. How could she ever let her family ever become this?_

_"Kankuro, let go of me."_

_"Temari, he's dangerous."_

_"HE is OUR brother." She said glaring daggers at the puppet master._

Another memory~~~~

_"Where the hell did that boy go?" Baki snapped looking around. Kankuro was too freaked out by hurting his sister to care, or even bother looking around for Gaara, but Temari, though wounded fully understood what happened._

_"Gaara always leaves some place if he doesn't have full control over his emotions. Shukaku probably stirred him up over the sight and smell of the blood. So he left before he could do something that would be out of his control." _

_Temari looked at her sensei and Kankuro. "Gaara isn't the monster either of you thinks he is." _

_"Again with that Temari, just give it up, our brother is gone." Kankuro said roughly meeting his sister's glare. How could she still have faith in his humanity? Did she not see the way he was staring her down like a piece meat? Gaara had looked at her like a predator looked at prey, and that to Kankuro was an extremely bad sign. _

_"Temari, he's not right in the head any-"_

_"Kankuro enough, you're just frusterating your sister. " Baki said placing a hand on the boy's shoulder._

_"Temari I believe what your brother's trying to tell you is not to put so much trust into Gaara immediately. Make him earn your trust, like you must earn his. If anything prove to him that you're an important aspect to this team. After all he was staring at you like the next lamb in line for the slaughter house. Just be wary of him for a while until he gives you proof that you can trust him. That goes for you as well Kankuro. Now both of you head to the hospital and get that wound taken care of. Training is over for today. Dismissed."_

The final memory~~~~~~~

_"So Baki sensei what's our first mission?" Kankuro asked glancing to the slightly eager Temari to his left, and the dead silent Gaara to Baki's right._

_"Today we will be spending the day as part of a cleanup crew in the southern sector of the village. Apparently there was some kind of riot late last night._

_"Well, that would explain the screaming I heard." Temari said scratching her chin lightly. "What started it?"_

_"Not a clue." Baki said as they walked towards the sectioned off area. As they entered Three of the team members froze in shock, while Gaara continued onwards, barely noticing the crusted layer of blood that coated the majority of the area. Gaara dissapeared into the sector, leaving his team behind._

_"This was no riot." Kankuro said his eyes huge in horror. Temari looked around feeling very sick._

_"I-I can't believe he could." She gagged at the smell, covering her mouth. unfortunately Kankuro didn't have such control over his gag reflex as he immediately lost his breakfast. _

_"Baki sensei, w-where in the world do we start!" Temari asked, trying not to give in to the retching feeling of her stomach._

_"We start where ever that monster isn't." Kankuro said spitting the last of the vommit from his mouth, a disgusted look on his face. _

_'I-I can't deny it any more, my otouto, my baby brother is truly gone...and I did nothing to stop it from happening.' _

'She's right, there was a time where Gaara was a kind hearted little boy, but when did I stop believing in him? At times when he needed me, I wasn't there for him.' Temari turned to the silent girl next to him.

"You don't need to talk to Gaara and apologise, you did nothing wrong. I know what happened. But I want to thank you..."

Nia was confused again. "Thank me for what?"

Temari smiled softly.

"For being my Otouto-chan's friend. He doesn't have any friends back home. He's special, and because of the way he is, people fear him." Nia nodded in understanding.

"That sounds like Naruto-kun, He's actually one of my frequent patients at the hospital! He has something special inside him too, and for a long time people feared and hated him, but he has friends now, I could tell that he was a good person deep down, just like Gaara-kun is." Nia said happily facing the Suna genin she once feared. They continued walking until Temari stopped.

"You sure you want to come in? Sone of the other teams might not be too happy to see a Konoha Genin especially during exam time."

"I'm sure Temari-san. Besides, how could I ever be a ninja if I'm afraid in enemy territory?" Temari nodded, the girl made a fair point. Together they walked through the entry way of the lent apartment building and Nia felt all eyes on her, and they were definately not friendly. Temari put her hands on her hips as she looked around.

"Where's my brothers?" The room seemed to have gone cold at the mention of the Sabaku boys, one in particular.

"Kankuro's upstairs in his room cleaning his puppets, the other one is on the roof like usual." one of the male genin spat glaring at Temari, who glared right back.

"Let's go." She said simply nudging the smaller girl ahead of her. The hostility Nia felt just between two Suna comerads made her immensley greatful that she hadn't come alone as she had intended to. As they climbed the stairs they passed several fights and even had to dodge stray shuriken from different brawls. Nia stared in awe as Temari gracefully avoided the sharp metal impliments of death. It seemed as if she were used to living like this. Finally they reached the top floor, and Nia watched as Temari headed towards a door on the left. She stopped with her hand on the handle.

"The door to the Attic is straight ahead, there will be a window to your right. climb the ladder and you'll be on the roof...But as a warning, sometimes Gaara's in a bad mood, and it's best just to leave him be, so if your gut's telling you to get away from him, it would be wise to do so. You're a good kid Nia, it would be pointless for you to die over something as stupid as an apology."

With that she opened the door, but before she closed it behind her Temari stopped.

"If anything happens, come to my room, alright. My brother Kankuro will be here shortly, we'll protect you if it should ever come to that."

Nia smiled at the Suna ninja.

"Thank you Temari, I hope it does not come to that." After Temari nodded, Nia continued walking down to the end of the hall. As her hand rested on the brass door knob she took a deep breath and slowly opened the door.

The attic was dusty , but Nia could make out the distinct shoe prints through the dust. she followed them towards the window, and as Temari said there was a ladder that lead to the roof. Pulling herself through the window Nia grabbed the rusty rungs of the aged ladder. She climbed quietly and after four or five feet she reached the edge of the roof. Hoisting herself up Nia's feet finally touched the roof it's self. She sighed in relief, Nia wasn't one for heights but the fact that the roof had a waist high barrier made her feel much safer. She looked around for the familiar shape of her friend, some of the nearby tree's branches were flushed up against the building casting shadows.

As Nia glanced around she felt an unfamiliar presence, and unfortunately this one wasn't friendly.

"Oh lookie, what's a Konoha brat doing up here all alone?" A voice asked as several shadows began moving. This frightened the poor girl greatly.

"Umm, I-I was just looking for m-my friend, he was supposed to be up here..." Nia said nervously. The prospect of a fight was not what frightened the girl, it was that she was out numbered that unnerved her. Four against one was not good odds.

"I w-was lookin for my fwend, waah." One of the boys mocked as another shoved Nia making her yelp in surprise.

"Hey guys what do ya say we make this one our pin cushion? It'd be nice to see how many she can dodge before she gets stuck." The boy who seemed to be the leader said as he pulled out a few senbon and shuriken. Seeing this the rest of the group followed suit laughing at the fear on the girl's face. Nia was scared stiff, any good ninja always kept a secret weapon on their person at all times, any good Kunoichi kept at least five. After all they had more to protect than men did, they didn't have to worry about their virtue. Even being 11 years old wouldn't stop any would be rapists... That was something every kunoichi had to deal with. Feeling the cool metal of the kunai against her arm, Nia took a breath. If she had to fight, she would. If she had to kill, she could, but that didn't mean she wanted to.

Readying herself into a fighting stance, Nia glared at the four boys. She jumped to the side avoiding the senbon flung at her and twisted to avoid the shuriken aimed at her head. Nia ducked, dodged, weaved, twisted and spun to avoid the onslaught of weapons aimed at her. She even caught a few and flung them back with exceptional accuracy, catching each of the boys several times. In the back of her mind Nia couldn't help but think that if anything she was putting on a disturbing dance for a murderous audience. As she rolled to the side her arms were pinned and her legs swept out from under her. Landing on her knees she gasped in pain. The many cuts from all those shuriken were all starting to hurt at once.

"Yo Boss, this is gettin boring, what do ya say about finishing this off eh?" The one behind her said as he held her arms tighter as Nia tried to pull loose.

"Why end it so soon? She sliced us up pretty good, I say why not return the favor?" he said as a kunai was pulled from his thigh holster. If Nia was scared before she was horrified now, and was visibly shaking.

"Why are you doing this? I never did anything to you!" She gasped as she felt the razor sharp edge against her tear streaked cheek.

"You want to know why?" he laughed as he looked Nia in her dark brown eyes.

"Because you were here." Her blood ran cold. As Nia felt the blade slice her cheek, she could also feel the atmosphere change considerably. The tempreture dropped as an intense feeling of bloodlust radiated on the roof. Glancing over Nia seen a familiar form, and seeing him she felt an immense relief.

"Shit, that's-"

"Gaara-kun." Nia said softly watching as the gourd disintigrated from his back. Sand swirled around him menacingly. Fast as lightening the one holding Nia, and the one with his blade against her face were encased in sand. The other two, who had tried running , fared just as badly, for they too were surrounded in a sand prison. One by one the life was squeezed from them, leaving the leader for last, who by now was sobbing uncontrolably.

"W-why are you d-d-doing this?" Gaara actually let out a dark laugh as he glared at the sniveling creature before him.

"Because you were here." He spat before bringing his life to a painful end. When Gaara turned to Nia she had her hands over her ears with her eyes clenched shut. Gaara walked over to the girl and crouched in front of her not saying a word, just waiting silently, for what he didn't know...Gaara felt that just sitting there was the right thing to do.

**"What the hell are you doing? There's one left Gaara! There's one more life you owe me, and I want it NOW. Damn it, are you even listening to me? *insert cricket noises here*~~~ GAARA PAY ATTENTION YOU BRAT!"**

Shukaku was furious, again because of this bug he was ignoring her. SHE was his mother, she cared for him his whole life! No colds, no food allergies, no food poisoning, 24/7 body guarding, what the hell was she? Chopped liver? No matter how much the demon shrieked and complained, Gaara refused to move from his spot, he just stayed crouched down infront of Nia. Finally she opened her eyes and upon seeing her friend's jade ones, her's immediately pooled up as she flung her arms around his neck acutally knocking the sand user backwards.

"Gaara-kun thank you. I wanted to find you and apologise for earlier today if I offended you in any way, And I'm sorry you had to save me from those people. I'm a horrible friend for making you do that, so I'm sorry for that too."

Gaara just sat there silent and let the girl cry, he didn't know what else to do, so he awkwardly sat with Nia hanging off him waiting for her tears to stop. Finally she stopped crying and let go of his neck as she sat back on her knees. Making a few hand seals Nia's hands began to glow green as she held them near her arms. Gaara watched as the many cuts were quickly vanishing, leaving her skin once again flawless.

"Thank you for telling me this Nia. There's no need to apologise to me, I simply remembered something very important that needed attending to. So no, you did not offend me. Would you like me to walk you to your home? It's past dark." Nia nodded as she slowly stood.

"Thank you." Gaara nodded waiting for the younger girl by the edge of the roof. Nia watched as he stepped over the edge, the sand keeping him floating in the air. Helping her onto the sand cloud Gaara felt the girl clench onto his arm as it slowly descended.

'Hmmm, she feels so warm.' Gaara thought as the ground got closer. Nia finally relaxed as their feet touched solid ground. They walked side by side through the village, Gaara a step behind her.

"NIA-CHAN!" A loud voice cried. Nia looked around in time to see an orange blur hug her.

"Naruto-kun! How did your exams go? Did you pass?" Nia asked happily as her blonde friend released her from his death hug.

"You better believe I passed!" The blonde chuckled. Even though Nia was a year younger than Naruto, they had known each other for at least the last 5 years. With her aunt and uncle working in the hospital, Nia had often helped them with simple procedures on their patients, and luckily, or unluckily, naruto was one frequent patient. Eventually they became fast friends.

"So, you still after that pink haired banshee?" Nia said with a smirk, taking notice of Gaara who was seemingly browsing the shelf of one of the booths.

"Sakura? Yeah...I don't know what it is about her..."

"Naruto, you fool...She's always beating you up! why don't you look for a nicer girl?" Nia said as she wagged her finger at the boy who was like her goofy older sibling.

"None like me Nia!" Naruto whined, but Nia flicked his forehead gently.

"Baka, there's a girl who's liked you for quite a while, that shy Hyuga girl. She always visits you in the hospital, she took your original nindo as your own, and she's always blushing around you. If you ask me she's got it bad for you Naru-Kun." Nia said with a wink.

"What? Hinata likes me? You're kidding right?"

"Oh Naruto-kun, if you only knew, but I gotta go home, I'm late. Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks Nia! Later!" With that the Blonde ran off. Nia walked to Gaara who nodded seeing her presence.

"Shall we continue?" He asked waiting for Nia to lead the way. She nodded and continued walking. Finally they reached her home.

"Thank you very much Gaara-kun, for everything." Nia said with a smile as she stood on the door step. Suddenly the door opened and the pair was bathed in light.

"Nia who's this young man? Some kind of suitor attempting to woo you?" Nia facepalmed.

"Uncle, people don't woo each other any more, they stopped wooing even before you and Auntie got together." Nia said in embarassment as her uncle laughed.

"So, were you attempting to court my niece?" Kaji asked in a serious tone to Gaara who looked simply confused.

"No, I'm not attempting to woo, court or try to date your niece, I was simply walking her home to see that she arrived safely." Gaara stated.

"So you're very close with my niece?"

"No."

"Strangers don't walk each other home."

"Uncle! Sheesh! Gaara-kun, this is my uncle Kaji, Uncle, this is Gaara-kun. Gaara-kun is my new friend from the sand village, some older boys were trying to make me their plaything and Gaara-kun saved me. So if anything instead of interrogating him you should thank him for defending my honor!" Nia said putting her hands on her hips.

"So you saved my niece?"

"Yes."

"To get into her pants?"

"NO!"

"UNCLE!"

"KAJI!"

"KOORI?"

*SLAP*

"What the hell is wrong with you fool? Their children for goodness sake!" The blonde wonam snapped as she hit her husband repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Koori paused for a moment to look at Gaara.

"Did you pass the first exam hun?" Gaara simply nodded. "Congrats! Would you like to stay for dinner?"

"No thank you, but the offer is appreciated."

"Well, maybe next time then." Koori said before returning to beat on her husband some more.

"Well, good bye then Gaara-kun. Good luck tomorrow!" Nia said with a smile as Gaara nodded and turned from the walk way.

"You like him don't you Nia?" Koori said as she too watched the young boy walk down the street.

"Yes, I think I do Auntie. Hey where'd uncle go?" As they both looked around, Kaji was no where to be found. Koori sighed.

"He probably ran off to lick his wounds. Come on, I'll fix our plates."

Gaara walked down the street, but instead of heading towards the apartments where the other suna ninja were staying, Gaara headed towards the park. He was well aware he was being followed. As he walked down the well worn foot path the red head sat down on the swing.

"What?" The figure came from the bushes.

"Hmm, even at my stealthiest your senses picked me up. Is it because you're truly that good? Or is it because of your special tenant?" The man asked from the shadows. Gaara glared at the man before coming to a quick realization.

"You're Nia's uncle, Kaji."

"Yes I am. And you're a Jinchuriki, yes?"

"What do you want?" Gaara asked suspiciously still glaring at the man. He felt no killer intent, no anger, just pity...and a strange sense of understanding?...

"I only wish to help. I understand the lifestyle of being a tailed beast, I understand the pain. The only think I do not know of directly is the power of a tailed beast. For the sake of my brother, I have lived a life of assassination attempts, a childhood of being hated and tormented. To protect my younger brother, the carrier of the four tailed Gorilla, Yonbi no Saru, I claimed to be the host. I have been tormented, tortured, beaten and almost killed. I know your pain, and I can sense your inner turmoil. Let me help you to deal with your biju as I helped my brother Roushi."

"How did you know, what I was." Gaara asked suspiciously.

"After claiming to be the very creature the public feared, I was run out of my home country in the hidden stone village. As a thanks for protecting it's host, the Yonbi imbued me with some of it's powers. Now for example, I can detect any tailed beast anywhere. If something contains the power of a tailed beast, I can sense it. Your power is small compared to the tailed beast in Konoha, so I'm going to assume that you are either one, or two tails. Am I correct?"

"Yes." Gaara said simply waiting for the man to continue.

"Ironically, Koori's sister moved out to the hidden stone village and met my brother. Although she did not know who the father of her child was, I know it was my brother... I can sense the power of the Yonbi in Nia. She with that power has such untapped strength. Yet she remains completely unaware of it. However with her longing to help people, her medical chakras belong to the Yonbi. As you should know, our regular chakras are blue. The tailed beasts are another color. The Kyubi's, red, the Yonbi's green."

Gaara nodded, His chakra from Shukaku was golden yellow.

"So, will you accept my help? If you do, then We begin during the intermission between the second and third parts of the exam. What do you say?"

Gaara's mind was racing, filled with new information.

"I...I will think about your offer." Kaji nodded.

"That's all I wanted to hear. Good luck on your exams." The red headed man said as he vanished in a swirling cascade of leaves. Gaara walked back to the temporary Suna dwelling. He had a lot to think about, Gaara figured that he might as well be comfortable since like any other night, he wouldn't be sleeping.


	14. Chunin exams 2 of 3

A Tough life

Chapter 14

Chunin exams 2 of 3

**This part of the exams is pretty much going to stick to the original story, so sorry in advance for having a chap that so many others have, but unfortunately the chunin exams is a must have, but don't worry, i jampacked all of part 2 and the prelims into this chapter and tried to make it as exciting as the story would allow. ^_^**

Gaara lay on the bed as he looked out of the window. For hours he had been lying in that possition watching the stars move. Being an Insomniac learned to give one patience. After all the nights were very long, and one needed patience to get through them on a daily basis with their sanity intact. Slowly the darkness of the sky ebbed away and was replaced with dull greys, which were then replaced with pinks and the eventual baby blue.

Gaara by then had been well prepared for the day. If this part of the exam was based on survival then he had little to worry about. As he rummaged through his things his eyes rested on a small canister of healing salve. For reasons unknown, Gara had always packed the small jar for every mission he took. Why? He never needed it...but maybe it's because one day one of his teammates might...Wait he didn't care about them, and they didn't care about him so why should he even bother? Oh well... Gaara tossed the small jar into the pouch sewn onto his sash. Jumping out his window, Gaara waited for his teammates to exit the building...Unfortunately today, was going to be a bad day. Shukaku had ravaged his mind through that long night, and today Gaara was in no good sense of mind as Shukaku's actions and thoughts merged with his and bubbled towards the surface. So much did he want to throttle something, he was just so angry.

**"Come on, let's go get something, there's plenty of people milling around, nobody'll notice a missing kid... Just snatch up the next one that passes by..."**

'Can you not wait until the exam?'

**"No, there's too much peace, it's too calm, where's the calamity? I want to see blood, and I know you want it too." **Shukaku purred as she pulled the redheaded boy into his subconcious. As usual the dreamscape was that of a moonlit desert, opening his eyes, the boy registered the all too familiar shape of shukaku.

**All you have to do is stay here, and I'll do the rest, just like old times..."** Her taunting smiled showed Shukaku's sharp teeth as her golden eyes narrowed slightly. The demon woman tensed, and immediately Gaara held his hand up keeping her trapped in the sand.

"You are _not _coming out today." Gaara said glaring at the demon who smiled serenely.

**"Oh, my son, we've been over this plenty of times. Why would you ever think you could control me? I am the sand it's self! You have no say when controling my powers!" **Shukaku said as her form slowly started to melt away as she turned into sand. To Gaara, this was nothing new, just one of Shukaku's twisted games. Lifting himself into the sky with his sand, Gaara scanned the area looking for his 'mother'. Normally he would have found her already lurking in one of the nearby dunes by now. But the fact that he couldn't place her made him nervous. Every time Shukaku seemingly vanished lead to some kind of screwed up incident with his inner demon.

Suddenly the sand supporting him gave way as he plummited towards the ground...but was that the ground? The sand below him was shifting into a monsterous face, Gaara could feel Shukaku's chakra going through his body like a poison. Just as he was about to be engulfed by the sand demon's jaws...

"Gaara!" The boy snapped his eyes open immediately glaring at the man before him as his heart pounded, it was Baki.

"Your team left minutes ago, head over to the beginning of the next exam spot now." Narrowing his eyes further Gaara vanished into a cloud of sand, but not before delivering a lightening fast sand strike towards the man who dodged quickly in fear.

"That damn boy." Baki growled as he went back into the apartment.

"Kankuro, are you sure he's already here?" Temari asked looking for her youngest brother.

"Yeah, he wasn't at the house, so where else would he be?" Kankuro lied hoping Temari wouldn't catch it. As he walked down the stairs that morning he could feel the violent fluctuations of chakra coming from the boy. At times like that Kankuro learned to stay away. Knowing his sister would want to check up on their brother, Kankuro slapped her back and jumped out the window calling her a sissy. Naturally Temari chased after him with the intent to beat him with in an inch of his life, but as they arrived to area 44, she noticed that Gaara was nowhere to be found.

Once the red head in question had arrived and found his team, they handed in their liability waivers and collected their scroll, the whole time Gaara's face was one of complete indifference.

"Alright, each team head towards a seperate gate, once all the gates are unlocked you will be given until the signal sounds to prepare your selves, then the exam will begin." Anko said loudly watching as the nervous genins took their places. Temari and Kankuro went to the nearest gate watching as Gaara followed silently. The proctors walked around unlocking the gates, and whith in a half hour a whistle was blown. The second exam had finally begun.

**"Oh, was that the lunch bell? Is it time to play now? Come on, feed me some blood, some sweet tasty blood."**

As they ran through the forest Gaara could hear Tamari and Kankuro talking behind his back, obviously making up some kind of plan. They had been going for barely an hour before Gaara slowed into a walk making his way into a clearing where three rain ninjas stood.

"Looks like they want to fight us, what nerve they've got." one said glancing at the tallest.

"It is indeed a foolish deciscion. Why don't you three just hand over your scroll and we'll let you go on your merry way, hmm?" The rain ninja asked with a smirk.

"Are you going to fight us or talk us to death?" Gaara asked staring at the tallest opponent.

"Gaara, I thought we decided that we wouldn't fight unless we knew what scroll they were carrying? It's pointless to fight and gain nothing!" Kankuro said hurriedly while glancing from his brother to their enemies.

"I don't want to hear it! Anybody who crosses me is dead!"

**"That's right, spill his blood and give it all to me, I want to taste what you've been denying me for so long!"**

The rain ninja pulled several large umbrellas from the sash on his back and flung them into the air. The sand trio watched as senbon flew from the spinning umbrellas heading right towards Gaara.

"Too easy, this match is as good as mine." The rain ninja smirked triumphantly. As the dust settled he stared in shock at the sight before him. Gaara stood completely uninjured, all of the flying needles had been blocked by his sand.

"That's not possible! 1000 needles and not one?"

"Is that really all you've got? Heh, guess it's my turn then, to respond in a deluge of blood." As the rain ninja charged, Gaara reached out his hand encasing the man in sand. Temari watched as the rain ninja's umbrellas fell from the sky. Gaara reached for one popping it open and leaned it on his shoulder.

**"C'mon, do it, do it, do it, do it NOW!"**

Gaara clenched his hand shut watching as the blood of his enemy poured down like rain. Horrified the two remaining rain ninja threw them their scroll and began begging for their lives. However Shukaku was demanding more, and more she would get. Their pleading went ignored as Shukaku's sand enveloped the two remaining rain ninja. Picking up their dropped scroll Temari waved with a smile of thanks before they were crushed like bugs, blood splattering across the trees.

"Good, this is just the scroll we needed too." Temari said happily to Kankuro who looked relieved.

"Looks like we can head straight to the tower then." He said glancing warily at his brother.

'The sooner we get outta here the better.'

**"More blood, more more more more!"** Shukaku screamed tearing away at the back of Gaara's conciousness.

"Not yet. I need more..." Gaara said staring towards the edge of the clearing...something was there, weak and pathetic they were but now Shukaku was far from being picky.

"C'mon Gaara, let's go, we have what we need." Kankuro said harshly and immediately regretting doing so when Gaara glared at him.

"What? Are you scared? Coward!" The youngest boy spat still glaring at the puppet ninja. Nervously Kankuro tried a different approach.

"Gaara, you would be fine, but Temari and I can't take such risks. We have what we need, we are done." He said with finality in his voice.

'Oh for pete's sake, he's trying to get himself killed.' Temari thought as she watched Gaara raise his arm up, the sand shifting threateningly.

"I don't take orders from you." Gaara growled. Temari stared in horror as she watched Kankuro, who by now had almost lost it.

"That's enough!" he snapped as he grabbed Gaara by his sash.

"For once, just listen to what your big brother tells you!"

"You are not _my_ brother. I've never thought of either of you as my siblings! Cross me and I'll kill you." Gaara snapped as he swatted Kankuro's hand away, his other arm still outstretched towards the end of the clearing. Temari finally decided to step in.

"Gaara please, aren't I like a sister to you? Please don't be so cruel, I'm begging you."

**"You can sense it right? You can feel the panic, the terror... relish the feeling, enjoy every moment of it!" **Gaara clenched his fist.

"Gaara!" Temari cried as a sudden jolt hit him. "Gaara-kun!" a smiling face and a perpetually kind voice. He could feel the panic of the three in the bushes, he with the enhanced senses of Shukaku could hear their hearts racing and could smell the fear. Suddenly in his hand formed the cork to his gourd.

"Fine, let's go." Plugging his gourd Gaara began walking into the forest, not waiting for his teammates to follow. Temari and Kankuro held back, but eventually followed their brother as he lead them towards the tower. Temari stared at the red head in front of her.

'What just happened?'

The rest of their time in the forest was uneventful, and they reached the tower with out incident. As they opened the doors of the tower, the team entered an empty chamber. Gaara couldn't help but eye a camera on the ceiling and send it a chilling glare before continuing on his way. Temari and Kankuro opened their scrolls and their sensei Baki appeared before them.

"Congrats, you're the first to pass the second portion of the exam. Go get some rest, because it's still day 1 you have the rest of the week to wait for the other compeditors. You'll be informed when the final team has arrived." With that said Baki shushined away in a cloud of smoke leaving the three alone in the room. Gaara followed in Baki's example and vanished in a swirl of sand. Now alone Temari rounded on her younger brother.

"Were you trying to get killed! Seriously what the hell?" her question for the moment went unanswered as Kankuro walked past her with a nervous smirk.

"Hey!" she screeched quickly following after him. "You never answered me!" Now outside Kankuro turned to face his sister.

"How many times has Gaara threatened to kill me Tem?" he asked seriously. Temari was confused for a moment, but answered quickly.

"This time makes, umm, why do you want to know any ways?" Now Kankuro smiled.

"Temari he's all talk. I don't think he'd kill either of us, and it's 78 by the way. With 78 threats of death you'd think he'd have made good on that promise of death at some point." Kankuro said smugly. But Temari had doubts.

"Kankuro, every time you piss Gaara off enough to make him threaten you with death, he's only mildly annoyed. If he and Shukaku were having a difficult day, I don't think he would hesitate in making good on his promise." Kankuro deflated as Temari spoke. She made a very good point. Sighing Temari turned and began walking away.

"I'm heading back to the room, I might as well enjoy it while it's quiet and all." Kankuro nodded, again she had a point, he too followed his sister back to their temporary refuge. Kankuro shrugged, he might as well take a nap.

The rest of the week passed without incident, but Kankuro and Temari had a feeling that Gaara was growing more and more unstable. Finally the last passing team made it out of the forest of death and the sand trio were summoned to an indoor fighting arena. After all the teams were lined up before the Hokage, the exam proctors and their Jonin senseis, the rules were set and the preliminary exams started. As the first match was announced, the spectators made their way to the balconies to watch the battles.

"So, the Uchiha brat's fighting first huh?" Temari said to nobody in particular as Kankuro nodded. The first two matches went quickly, the victors being Sasuke and the Aburame boy Shino. Again the selection screen picked two names.

Tsurugi Misumi VS Kankuro.

The puppeteer grinned as he made his way to the arena, ignoring Temari's silent 'Don't do anything stupid you fool' look, and Gaara's glare. Baki sighed in annoyance, he knew his student wasn't taking the match seriously. As both boys met in the middle of the stage, the proctor signled the battle to start. Temari wached as the leaf ninja swung at her brother who blocked the hit easily.

'Hmm, maybe this will be an easy- What the hell?' The remaining members of team Sabaku watched as their puppeteer was entangled in the constricting limbs of his enemy, his puppet falling to the floor leaving him defenseless.

"Try anything foolish and I'll snap your neck like a twig, give up!" The constricting leaf ninja hissed. Kankuro laughed.

"You're kidding right? No way!" He gagged out as his body was squeezed tighter. The leaf ninja was surprised to say the least.

"The hell? Do you _WANT _to be the one who dies?" he growled constricting his body even tighter around the sand genin. Kankuro being ever so cocky scoffed again much to the leaf ninja Misumi's annoyance.

"Do you? Because you're about to get your wish!" Suddenly a sickening snap echoed through the battle arena. The other groups stared in horror while Temari and Gaara kept straight faces.

'C'mon Kankuro, there's no way you suck this bad! What are you up to?' Temari thought keeping her emotions undercontrol as she stared intently at the two ninja below. Gaara simply stared impassively.

"What a waste." That simple sentence got shocked stares as well, did this boy not care for his comerads at all? The leaf ninja laughed.

"He wouldn't give up so I killed him." Suddenly the once thought dead Kankuro's head spun around to face his opponent.

"Now I can return the favor!" Arms burst from the sand ninja and wrapped around the leaf, embedding themselves into his skin confining him to his spot. As the mask fell from the sand ninja's face the crowd was shown Kankuro's true identity. He was a simple marionette. They watched as the wrappings of the abandoned bundle on the floor revealed the puppeteer, chakra strings glowing on each of his fingers. The snapping of bones was heard as the leaf ninja slumped to the floor.

"Heh, broke everything but your neck, with all those broken bones look how much more flexable you'll be." As Kankuro wrapped up his puppet, the proctor announced him the winner. Once back with his team, Temari punched him.

"You had me scared to death you idiot! When did you switch out?" She hissed keeping her voice quiet. Kankuro only smirked.

"Why do you think I took the stairs?" Temari's eyes widened in shock, then she punched him again.

"Warn me next time damn it!"

"Yeah yeah, I'll do so, whatever." The two sand ninja bickered back and forth. Baki was relieved, and Gaara continued to stare impassively.

**"Awww, come on! Reaalllly? He managed to pull that one off right under your nose? Under our nose? He's getting too dangerous, you should get rid of him in this tournament...What? It's a suggestion..."** Somewhere in his mind, Gaara had to admit that he was somewhat relieved that his teammate was alive, after all, they were blood...but then again so was he and Yashamaru and look how that ended up. What was family? All they did was destroy each other, connected by hatred and intent to kill. But there were good people too, who were kind. Weak people...people easy to kill-wait what? Gaara pushed the demon further to the back of his mind and ignored her.

The present battle between two leaf kunoichi came to a close, each knocking the other unconcious. Once the stage was cleared two more names were announced.

Temari VS Tenten.

Temari smirked, at least now she could get rid of some pent up energy. As she readied herself, Baki stopped her.

"Nothing flashy, save your secrets." This annoyed the girl.

"I'm no fool, besides, it's not me you should have been worrying about."

Leaving her team on the balcony Temari lept down landing lightly before facing her opponent Tenten. At the start of the match both girls jumped back from their enemy, Tenten pulled scrolls from her pouch as Temari held her closed fan in front of her waiting for her opponent. Tenten took the initiative and released several weapons fron the scrolls in her hands before charging at Temari and quickly and precisely aiming them at the suna girl who blocked them simply with the closed fan. The crowd watched as the leaf kunoichi bombarded the suna kunoichi with weapons, each being blocked and dodged, much to the darker haired girl's annoyance. Finally she pulled out two matching scrolls, each emblazened with a golden dragon. Placing them on the ground next to her she formed several handsigns, and at their completion the scrolls burst open as dozens of ninja weapons clustered in the shape of a dragon spun around Tenten.

"Take this! Rising twin dragons!" The leaf genin shouted as the multitide of weapons all flew at Temari at once. Opening her steel fan Temari ran chakra through it before sending the weapons back with a mighty gust of chakra enhanced wind. The weapons that still hung in the air now came crashing down as the leaf genin went flying up in the air from the blow. As the weapons came down, a club hit the leaf Kunoichi in the head knocking her out. Temari watched as the girl fell, holding out her fan, Tenten landed on it with a loud thud. The crowd stared in shock at the scene, the famed weapons mistress of konoha was defeated.

"Temari is the victor." The proctor announced coughing. Temari flung the girl from her fan, watching as her opponent's green clad teammate caught her before angrily yelling at the suna kunoichi.

"That is not how you treat a worthy opponent! Especially one you've just beaten!" The boy yelled angrily as Temari simply gave him a cool look.

"Why don't you and that loser get out of my sight huh?" She smirked as the leaf boy unleashed a flying kick at her, which Temari blocked with ease. She smiled.

"Just as I thought, not that fast, or that strong."

"Temari enough, you won your match. How long do you intend to play with these fools?" Gaara snapped. After hearing her brother's words she immediately returned to the balcony. The next match was between a sound kunoichi and a leaf ninja. The match was fairly boring until the leaf ninja revealed his family technique the shadow possesion jutsu. The battle ended quickly after the sound kunoichi was ensnared. Temari had to supress a laugh as the sound girl gave herself a concussion.

'Stupid girl, like I'd ever get caught with something that simple. She should be ashamed to call herself a kunoichi...but still, that techniques something to look up on.'

The proctor announced the winner, then the next two to fight were chosen.

Naruto, the loud orange boy from before the exams, and an Inuzuka boy, both leaf genin. Temari noted. She couldn't help but notice how many bloodline traits Konoha had taking this exam alone.

'There was Sasuke, the Uchiha with his Sharingan, The two Hyugas with their Byakugan were easily recognised by their pale pupiless eyes, That Shikamaru kid with his shadow techniques, The blonde girl with her mind techniques, I think she was a Yamanaka? The Aburame and his insects, and now this Inuzuka who can communicate with his dog, What else could Konoha possibly have regarding families and bloodline traits and those with special techniques?' As Temari watched the conclusion of the match she couldn't help but feel that the invasion of Konoha was nothing but a huge mistake. With all these strong families with special techniques, bloodlines, and abilities Sand was no doubt going to be massacred by these people... And this Naruto...there was something about this kid...

The winner was announced to be the orange blonde, and the next two combatants were chosen.

Hyuga Hinata VS Hyuga Neji.

Temari and Kankuro looked around the room feeling a overwelming sense of tension between the two Hyugas in the middle. Once the proctor started the match the two simply stood there talking, well one talked, the other listened to the boy's cruel berating comments. As the crowd watched, the younger female Hyuga visibly deflated, what ever confidence she had was lost as the older boy had her in tears. Temari leaned on the rail.

"Damn, this guy's a complete dick... and to think their related." Kankuro nodded.

"But there's also psycological warfare, not just physical." He said also watching and waiting for the fight to begin.

"...And weather you admit it or not, you are completely aware that you can never change yourself!"

"YES SHE CAN!" The blonde shouted from across the stage. "You can't just decide these things about people you jerk! C'mon Hinata beat up this guy! Or at least talk back to him!"

At these words, the girl took her stance, the older male following suit, the two Hyuga had identitical stances. The two sand siblings glanced at each other.

"Well, looks like there's gonna be a match after all." Kankuro said glancing to his sister.

"Yeah, The girl might not win, but I hope she does at least something to this guy, he's a complete jerk..." Temari said watching the two Hyuga trade lightening fast blows. Suddenly the two came to a halt in the middle of their bout as the girl coughed up blood. But it seemed that wasn't enough to stop her as she tried to continue her assault and failing as the older boy easily deflected her strike. Pushing up her sleeve, a dozen or so small bruises were seen running the length of her arm. This seemed to shock the girl because with a quick strike she was slammed to the floor, skidding back several feet.

Again the boy, Neji spat out sharp and pointed insults, but it seemed that this time the girl, Hinata wasn't going to give in to them As she continued coughing up blood she charged again, but it was quickly apparent that she was outmatched from the start.

**"Do you smell that? **Shukaku said while inhailing deeply and licking her lips. Gaara fidgited and became uneasy, though he would never show it.

Another strike sent Hinata reeling back and coughing up more blood, but again she charged, refusing to give up. It seemed that the only way the match would be over was of one of them died. With a final strike from Neji, Hinata gagged and hit the floor unmoving. As the proctor called the match the blonde stopped him and pointed to the battle stage. The small crowd of compeditors stared in shock. Kankuro's eyebrows were raised in surprise and even Temari's mouth was open in shock. Surely she should be down for the count after that? But no, Hinata was slowly and shakily getting to her feet, blood dripping as she continued coughing it up as she gasped for breath. After a short exchange of words, the Hyuga boy charged his opponent killer intent radiating from his every action. He was stopped mere seconds before he made contact by four jonin. Hinata collapsed to the ground coughing up more blood, the sight made Gaara squirm. After being rushed to the medical ward, the next match was going to be announced.

"I'm going to see if I can get and info on that Neji guy, later Tem." Kankuro said as he walked away heading to the opposite balcony. Gaara turned into sand and vanished landing on the minature battle field waiting for his opponent. Temari actually jumped in shock when a genin from the other balcony let out a loud roar before declaring that he was safe.

'The friggen hell was that!' suddenly a green blur lept down to face Gaara.

'Him huh? His kick was nothing special, and we all know he won't even be close for a match to Gaara' Temari thought watching as green leaf ninja Lee sent a flying kick towards her brother. Sand burst from the gourd quickly blocking the strike and sent Lee flying as it swatted him away. Quickly righting himself, Lee charged yet again, both his punch and kick were blocked by the sand. As he punched the sand again, hands formed and tried grabbing the leaf shinobi jumping away, Lee landed on top of the statue. Might Guy, Lee's teacher called out to him.

"Lee take 'em off! I'll allow it!" With a smile Lee removed his orange legwarmers revealing weights on both his legs.

"Now I can move freely!" Lee said happily, dropping the weights from atop the statue. Kankuro smirked and Temari scoffed, as if dropping a few weights could let him keep up with Gaara's sand. Her thoughts were immediately discarded once the weights hit the ground with a thunderous crash leaving two craters where the weights landed. Gaara stared impassively while Team Sabaku and the rest of the combatants stared gaping at the sight.

"Alright Lee, now go!" Guy shouted

"Yes Sensei!"

Gaara watched slightly surprised at how fast the boy vanished, but what shocked him was the sight of his sand shield mere inches from his head, blocking lee's punch. Gaara stared in shock when he turned, the sand had barely stopped the leaf ninja's kick as half of his foot was through the sand halting it just centimeters from his face. Another punch, barely blocked, another kick, stopped just in time. The sand couldn't keep up, Gaara looked around quickly trying to find the leaf ninja when suddenly a sharp pain struck him from above as he gasped in shock.

Team Sabaku stared in absolute horror, no on not one person had ever physically wounded Gaara.

'So this is pain? I don't like it..' Gaara thought as Shukaku raged in his head itching for control of her host.

"Now Lee! Explode!"

"Yes Sir!"

Lee vanished from infront of Gaara leaving the red head panicked as he looked around for the leaf shinobi. His defensive sand rose up behind him, Gaara turned in surprise to face his enemy when suddenly he was struck from his front. The punch sent the suna boy sprawling, but he was soon caught by his sand. Now Shukaku was furious.

**"What do you say, hmmm? blood for blood? yes? no? yes? no? Well it doesn't matter, ready or not I'm coming out Gaara."**

Gaara could feel the demon's overwelming power rise then plummet. No longer could he feel his arms or legs, Shukaku had complete control over everything. Temari stiffened feeling the change in power, and Kankuro grew nervous. He knew that what ever was going to happen was not going to be good...this was bad, very very bad...Slowly as the boy rose to his feet a dark laugh echoed through the small arena. Sand dripped down as his face was set into a meniacle smile. Sand gathered onto his body to form a protective layer, like armor.

"Is that all?" Shukaku taunted in Gaara's voice. Only the suna team could tell the difference between this Gaara and their Gaara This one was by far more dangerous. The wrappings on Lee's arms slowly unwound and the leaf genin began sprinting around Gaara/Shukaku.

"Come on...Hurry up!" Shukaku snapped.

"As you wish!" Lee said as strong kicks sent Gaara's body flying up towards the high ceiling. Temari stared in horror watching the events unfold, there was no way this was happening no way! Kankuro was just as shocked as he stared wide eyed. Shukaku watched as the leaf boy flinched in pain, in that time she shushined and escaped the armor, leaving behind a perfect intact replica of Gaara. Shukaku _was_ the sand, and by extension so was Gaara. As Lee slammed the empty shell to the ground, he jumped back panting for breath. The audience watched as the sand armor caved into it's self. Lee stared in shock and flinched hearing a disturbed laughing coming from behind him. Nervously he turned and was struck with an onslaught of sand.

'Damn it! She's woken up, I knew it was happening but did nothing to stop it, but ...what could I have done to stop it? Shukaku's unstoppable...'Kankuro thought numbly watching as the leaf ninja got pummeled with sand. Lee suddenly jumped, avoiding the sand with surprising speed.

"It ends here for you." Shukaku/Gaara said staring down their opponent.

"One way or another, this will be the last move." Lee said agreeing as he crossed his arms in front of him. Slowly the air began to change as a sense of power filled it. The ground cracked beneath Lee as his skin changed red, and his aura surrounded him, lightening fast he ran towards his enemy destroying the ground in the process.

Faster than even Shukaku could process Lee kicked Gaara, sending his body into the air. The genin looked around, Kankuro, now frantically looking around for his brother. Oh yes this was going to be very bad. The group watched as Gaara was punched and kicked from every angle, he vaguely resembled a ping pong ball. Finally Lee hit Gaara with a powerful strike sending him crashing to the floor below. The leaf genin slammed to the ground after Gaara. As the smoke and debris cleared both genin could be seen panting heavily. Outstretching his arm Shukaku's sand rushed towards Lee, encasing his left arm and leg before crushing them s.l.o.w.l.y. As the sand went to completely cover the boy Guy stepped in saving his student.

As Gaara slowly stood, Shukaku recedded back into his mind her work was finished...for the moment. Gaara held his head as it throbbed in pain. Then he glanced at the green clad jonin.

"Why? Why did you save him?" Gaara asked still glaring at the man.

"He's my lovable precious protege." Guy answered simply. Gaara turned and walked away.

"Whatever." As the proctor announced Gaara as the voctor, he trailed off. People stared in shock and even Gaara was surprised when he glanced behind him. Lee was standing, still prepared to fight with two broken limbs. Gaara glared at the leaf boy and his sensei before he swirled and reappeared on the balcony with his sister and Baki.

"Welcome back Gaara." Temari said cooly, hoping that Shukaku was back where she belonged. Her brother simply gave her a sideways glance before walking away from the group. The final battle lasted less than a minute between the genin sound leader and the last leaf genin. Finally the winners were called forward and made to pick a piece of paper from a box. Anko walked in front of each of them holding out the box. After the numbers were drawn they were placed on a tournament grid and shown their opponents.

1 V 2 H. Neji

3 Gaara V 4 U. Sasuke

5 Kankuro V 6 A. Shino

7 Temari V. winner of 8v9

8 Dosu .K V 9 N. Shikamaru

Temari stared at the board... she'd either be fighting the sound ninja, or the shadow using leaf ninja...seems simple enough. Kankuro stared nervously at the bug user.

'I really hope he doesn't have termites...' Finally the preliminaries wound up and the remaining genin were to wait a month before the tournament to properly rest and to learn about their enemies. Part two of the Chunin exams have finally concluded...


	15. One month

A Tough life

Chapter 15

One month

Today was a good day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the familiar scent radiating upstairs only meant one thing. Nia's aunt was making her special breakfast style rice pudding. The sweet smell of cinnamon was enough to make the girl's mouth water. Climbing out of bed she stretched with a yawn before walking to her closet. Today was a big day for Nia, she would hopefully be placed in a team and become an official genin.

Yes she had her headband, for two years infact. But after the academy Nia entered the medic ninja training center at the hospital, so it was difficult to find a group where they all would work together properly. Nia had to admit that she could be a bit stubborn, but teamwork was an important group aspect, something not all genin had. Unfortunately she had been placed in four genin groups, only for them to fall apart. Student withdrawls, sensei withdrawls, deaths of two sensei, one due to illness and the other mission related. Hopefully this would be it, this would be Nia's cohesive family and team...hopefully. Pulling out some clothes Nia looked at them. They were standard training clothes, dark colors, fishnet armor, ninja shoes. She sighed, Nia wanted to stand out...but how to do so? She looked around her room and her attention was grabbed by a bag sitting on her window ledge. Curious she opened it and found a small note.

_Nia_

_My team and I passed the second part of the chunin exam. We'll be going back to Suna and returning in a month for finals. Thanks for being friends with my otouto, it means a lot to me and to him as well, though I know Gaara wouldn't admit it. I got you this as a thank you gift._

_Temari._

Nia smiled, but was saddened by what she read. She would have loved seeing him off and congratulating them. She looked in the bag and found a crimson sash much like Temari's inside. Nia held up the cloth and smiled, it was perfect. Pulling her hair into a ponytail Nia got dressed.

Koori spooned some of her breakfast cereal into a bowl for her niece, turning to call for her niece she was surprised at what she seen. Nia wore a black tank top, a long sleeved mesh armor undershirt along with a pair of black capris. The crimson sash was wrapped across her waist twice and the two long strands hung to her left side, her thigh holster, strapped on her right thigh and her headband was tied around her left arm.

Koori smiled.

"Well don't you look cool! Where'd you get that?" She asked pointing to the bright crimson sash that rested on her waist.

"It was a thank you present from Gaara's sister...they went back to Suna this morning." Nia said sadly. Koori gave the girl a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as Nia sat down and ate her breakfast.

Today could not be a worse day...well that was a lie, it could always be worse, but today was pretty annoying. Thanks to Temari's summon Team Sabaku was able to make it back to Suna in record time. During his stay in Konoha he had gotten accustomed the happy bustling nature of the people, the smiling, laughs, and carelessness. But when he walked through the city gates Gaara could feel the stares, and watched as the smiles melted off the faces of the citizens. Here there was only fear and pain. Nobody smiled at him, there were no kind words and bubbly girls. No lush green grass and the sweet scent of blossoms...Gaara looked around as he walked, fear and panic were the two most common emotions he sensed. Sighing he vanished in a swirl of sand reappearing on top of the cliffs, his usual spot. There he sat pondering the events of the last two weeks. Mostly remembering a kind bubbly girl that smelled of sweet blossoms.

Nia arrived at the Hokage's office hoping for a team. This time, she hoped would be different...this time. The elderly Sarutobi sat at his desk shuffling through the papers that contained the genin group listings. Finding the paper he was searching for, the Hokage scanned the sheet. Finally he placed it down and drew a long breath on his pipe before sighing. This Nia came to learn meant bad news. She too sighed staring sadly at the old man.

"I'm sorry dear."

"I understand Hokage-sama"

"But..." Nia looked up hopeful.

"I might have an idea." the old man said with a smile. "You've been on missions before yes?" he said pulling out her file and reading 36 D rank missions.

"Yes Hokage-sama, but most were only in the village for medical related purposes, I believe I've had five or six filling in for other teams missing members."

"Well, I've got an idea, why don't you fill in for the absent member of team 11? They will be delivering some chunin exam documents to some nobles through out the land of fire in several days time. Perhaps you would be willing to work with them?"

Nia was beaming, finally, a chance to prove herself outside the village!

"Yes Hokage-sama, I'd love to fill in for any absentee genin until I get my own team!"

"Very well, I'll inform the team leader Hana that you will be filling in."

"Thank you so so much Hokage-sama."

"You're very welcome Nia!"

Estatic the young girl ran towards home, stopping only when she neared the park. Even though it was midday, the park was empty. Nia walked up and sat down on the swings pushing herself gently back and forth. Nia didn't have many friends, even though she was a happy bubbly girl she was quite shy sometimes. Though she would often question what it was about Gaara that drew her from her shell, she smiled at the thought of her friend. Standing up from the swing Nia continued on her journey home, stopping when a wolfish lab sized dog began following her.

"Hi pup, what are you following me for huh?" Nia asked with a smile scratching the dog behind it's ears. The white dog began tugging on her sash and turned and walked a few feet just staring at her. Nia stared curiously before she understood.

"Do you want me to follow you?" The dog gave a happy yip as it wagged it's tail. Nia smiled, following the dog. Suddenly the dog began running towards the training grounds. Nia kept up with the white animal, keeping it in her sight. when suddenly it stopped in a clearing near the training grounds. Nia stopped as well when she noticed a woman and two younger kids in the clearing.

"Good, that's all for training today. Instead of our usual finishing exercises we'll be meeting a new team member, her name is Nia." the brown haired woman said to her students.

"Hana-sensei, how will she know where we are?" A young girl with dark glasses asked.

"Good question Ai! Mai is currently fetching her, you know how good her nose is!"

"What's her specialty?" a pale skinned boy with his headband over his eyes asked. Hana looked curious.

"I'm not sure Raizo, you'll have to ask her." The teacher said as Nia watched them curiously. Was this team 11? Nia fidgeted nervously, but why? All she had to do was enter the clearing it wasn't that hard to do. Suddenly the dog sitting beside her barked and bound through the bushes towards her master.

"Mai! Did you find our new teammate?" The dog barked again as Nia took a breath and walked through the bushes.

"Hi, I'm Nia." She said with a smile at them. Hana smiled back at the girl as the others did as well.

"Ok now that we're all here, let's do some introductions huh? I'll go first. My name is Hana Inuzuka, and this is my partner Mai. I was recently appointed as a jonin a year ago and you guys are my first students. I like animals, I dislike cruel people and my dream is to own an animal sanctuary like my mother. Ai?"

The girl spoke. "My name's Ai-lin Aburame, I'm not so pointed about polite decorum as the rest of my family so I don't mind knicknames, though I do prefer just being called Ai. I like insects like any Aburame does, and I dislike mean hurtful people. My dream...hmm I guess I havn't thought about it. Raizo what about you?"

"My name is Raizo and I was born blind, I like listening to music and movies because I can use my imagination to make them real to me. I dislike that I was never able to experience colors and sights. My dream is to make my clan acknoweledge me. Having green eyes at home made me strange enough, but being blind made my clan head doubt my abilities. I am from the Hyuga clan, I am blind and I can use my Byakugan. Nia?" He asked turning towards the girl in question.

"My name is Nia, I live with my aunt and uncle. We grow medicinal herbs for the hospital and medic ninjas. I like animals, and I'm really good at medicinal jutsu. I dislike that I don't have many friends because I'm shy sometimes. And my dream is...it's to someday meet my family. I want to know my mother and my father."

Hana smiled.

"Very good, Thank you Ai and Raizo for reintroducing yourselves so Nia can get to know you. Tomorrow we'll meet at training ground 4. You are all dismissed!" Hana said with a smile. The team all walked out of the forest. Nia went to walk home when a hand stopped her.

"Nia, would you like to join Ai and me for lunch?" Raizo asked with a smile as Ai stood behind him nodding enthusiastically waving the younger girl over.

"Yeah come on it'll be fun Nia!" The Aburame said happily. Nia smiled.

"I'd love to."

The sun had long set in the desert, and Gaara sat quietly on the roof of the Kazekage's mansion. Not even the crickets were chirping, a cold desert wind blew through out the village, chilling the inhabitants. The crescent moon shined brightly casting a silver hue over the sand village. Jade eyes watched a figure flit through out the shadows before entering the very building in which the jinchuriki was perched. Who in their right mind would dare enter the Kazekage's residence in the middle of the night? An assassin for the Kazekage maybe?

'One could only hope...'

Perhaps a rogue ninja intent on killing off the Sabaku clan? No, not a Suna ninja...perhaps another assassin for himself curtosey of dear old dad?

'Really wouldn't put it past him...'

Standing Gaara walked to the edge of the building before jumping into the shadows silently stalking the intruder as they crept through the mansion. As they headed away from the Kazakage's quarters it only deepened Gaara's suspicions that the man before him was sent to end his life. However suspiscion turned to surprise when the intruder headed not towards Gaara's quarters, but his siblings. But what to do? It would be incredibly simple to just kill the man and end this now, but nothing would be gained from that. But to let the man continue on and possibly risk his teammates and siblings lives to get information would be the smartest yet most dangerous choice. By doing so he'd get information and he would know exactly what the man was up to.

Kankuro's room was closest and as they approached a soft light was seen and the tinkering of tools could be heard along with soft clicks every few seconds. Obviously this was an unexpected set of events as the intruder quickly and silently made his way past heading towards the final Sabaku child's room.

Gaara watched as the shadowy figure slowly pried the door open making no noise and slowly began to close in the same silent manor. Before the door could click shut the intruder came flying from the room and crashed into the wall. Wasting no time Gaara's sand immediately incased the ninja's feet and kept him in place as Gaara waited for Temari to come from the room. When she did the girl was radiating such killer intent that even Gaara was momentarily unnerved, that was until he actually took in her appearance.

Her blonde hair usually in it's signature four pigtails now hung to her shoulders desheveled from sleep and she wore an oversized t-shirt covered in stars and moons with shorts to match. To Gaara had the situation not been so serious, he probably would have laughed at what he was witnessing. She looked like any ordinary civilian girl, vulnerable and weak, but Temari was far from it and as if to prove this point she was beating the hell out of said intruder in her pajamas.

If anything Gaara felt relief, he needn't have worried after all.

**"Of course they don't have to worry about some insignificant bug like this, after all they are teamed up with you, and we've yet to kill them...quite an accomplishment for them if I do say so."**

'What do you want? I was enjoying the quiet all day, you had nothing to say before so what?'

**"Ooo, touchy much? Can't your mother just pop in and say hi?" **Shukaku purred.

'No. Now go back to sleep.'

**"I'm too tired to sleep."**

Gaara mentally sighed, it was just like Shukaku to stirr at a time like this. As he argued with the demoness they were inturrupted by the very reason Gaara was even there. A kunai was suddenly embedded into his sand shield waking Gaara from Shukaku's mental tantrum.

"I said who's over there?" Temari growled staring at the shadows. Silently the redhead slipped away in a swirl of sand. Sensing no one Temari turned back to the masked ninja who lay in a bloodied lump on the floor. By now she was used to assassination attempts, after all she was the daughter of the Kazekage. It wasn't unnatural for his enemies to target his children, though they quickly learned to avoid Gaara. As she dragged the now bound man down the hall they were suddenly bathed in light as a door opened.

"What's with all the noise?" Kankuro asked looking and immediately spotting his sister's captive.

"Hmm we don't ever get a break huh? Well, that's the price of having the Kazekage for a father. Jeeze you'd think he'd at least beef up security once his kids are threatened with assassination, he's a dick." Kankuro grumbled giving his older sister a sad glance.

She had done so much for the family, keeping her brothers clean, fed, and relatively happy, and their father, the protector of the entire village couldn't...no, couldn't wasn't the right word..._wouldn't_ keep his children safe, that job fell to Temari as well. Kankuro could clearly recall the first time Temari saved his life, and it happened in his own room. He glanced at the deep gouges in his wall, they were the only evidence of his sister's act of saving her brother, Kankuro plain out refused to have them filled in. It would be like hiding a scar shamefully that was proof of your heroism. He sighed in saddness recalling that night. That was also the same day that she had ever completely lost her temper with her father, and the girl was punished brutally for it.

_Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~_

Kankuro finally made it home after an exhausting lesson with his teacher. Never in his wildest dreams did he realize that utilizing the talents of puppetry would use so much chakra, and unfortunately chakra exaustion was taking a great toll on his 9 year old body. As he opened the door and made his way towards the stairs leading to his room, he was mauled by his sister.

"Otouto-chan! I went on my first serious mission today!" The 12 year old Temari said excitedly squeezing the life out of her brother.

"Nee-chan...can't ...breathe!" Temari gasped and released her brother who stood stock still waiting for her to finish her story so he could go sleep.

"Well, Me and Baki-sensei had a mission to go deliver some important papers to the wind diyamo! And on the way there we were attacked by tons of ninja!" Kankuro listened with a smile at his big sister's animated tale.

"So he said 'You'll regret that brat'" Temari said in a gruff voice. "And I was all like "Yeah right I'm the Kazekage's daughter! I could kick your butt from here to grass country!' And then he poofed away like some sissy! Baki-sensei looked worried but I handeled myself against two at once, so I could take that guy! Hey, you look beat..." Temari said truly eyeing her brother for the first time.

"Yeah, Chiyo Baa-san's practically a slavedriver...I need a nap..." The young boy said, his eyes drooping. Temari smiled softly, that smile was the one she saved for her brothers only.

"Well go to bed then Otouto-chan, it is quite late after all...I might just head up in a little while, have you eaten?" She asked watching Kankuro climb the stairs.

"Just a ration bar." He grunted sleepily as he made his way to his room. In only moments his clothes lay scattered on the floor before he threw on a pair of sleeping pants, he was far too tired to even consider rummaging around for a shirt, he was lucky he'd even had the energy to find pants. Collapsing on to the bed his head turned to face the window willing it to unlock and open it's self to relieve the room of it's stuffyness. The edge of the waxing moon could barely be seen in the lower corner of the window.

As his eyes grew heavy, the boy blinked and was surprised at what he had seen, but also felt very uneasy. The moon was now completely framed in his window and bathed his room in light, casting the corners into deep darkness as the curtains swayed oh so gently in the cool desert's evening breeze. It was then that he realized why he felt so uneasy. The window was wide open.

Kankuro stayed stock still pretending to be asleep. He could feel the presence of somebody in his room and the small bits of killer intent they were radiating. Now he was afraid. Fighting other kids? No problem, Batteling his sensei and occasionally sister? Fine. But this, knowing full well that the person in his room had the complete intention to spill every drop of his blood frightened him to the core. Even dealing with a rampaging Gaara would be easier because he knew what he was up against, but still, in comparison to _this! _The boy's eyes watched as a glimmering reflection of metal shined against the wall in front of him raising higher.

'This can't be happening, it can't be happening, it can't be! I don't wanna be here, I don't wanna die, I want my Nee-Chan!'

The gleaming reflection went streaming down the wall as the boy gasped and rolled from the bed landing on the floor as he scrambled away from the attacker.

"TEMARI NEE-CHAN!"

Temari's heart pounded as she sat upright in her bed, such a vivid dream was now a natural occurance to the young girl. Being a ninja that has witnessed bloodshead, and being Gaara's sister and witnissing such acts of ruthless violence had given the girl nightmares before, but the ones like this were different, it always involved one of her brothers being hurt or in danger, and Temari...she could do nothing, her attacks were completely futile, it was as if her fists were made of jell-o. Her attacks landed and were on point but there was no power or strength behind it, they did nothing. And the dreams always ended the same way, with something horrible happening to one of her little brothers, and she completely unable to do anything to protect them. Then she would wake in a cold sweat and panic only to realize that once again it was a dream. Sighing in relief Temari settled herself back under the covers and snuggled into her pillow. It was only a dream, it will always be just a dream. As the girl closed her eyes an audible thump came from her brother's room making her eyes dart open.

'Kankuro must have fallen out of bed again...he's such a restless sleeper.'

Closing her eyes again and determined to go back to sleep Temari again snuggled close to her pillow. What she heard next made her blood run cold as her brother screamed out for her, fear lacing every panic stricken word. In a flash the girl was on her feet, and as she dashed fron her room she grabbed her new larger battle fan. Only yesterday in training had she finally attained a chakra enhanced wind current on it, but only once. However, NOW was not the time to doubt her abilities.

Running through the hall, Temari burst through her brother's door just in time for the boy to stumble out being followed by a shower of shuriken which Temari blocked effortlessly with her metal fan. As the shuriken struck sparks appeared flashing before the girl's eyes, she channeled as much chakra as she could. Temari whipped the fan outwards hitting the man with a full on cutting wind attack. The powerful wind currents had the man teetering on the edge of the window as he held both sides of the frame to keep himself in the room. Grabbing one of her brother's kunai Temari charged the man who dared to even consider hurting her brother. Kankuro stared in horror as they both dissapeared through the window, Temari having been pulled.

"Nee-chan?" He dashed towards the open window, thrusting his head and shoulders past the opening and watched as his sister rose backing away from the man who now lay motionless. She who had seen carnage and the remnants of her brother's bloody masacres could barely contain herself as she shook violently staring at the blood covering her hands and night shirt. Glancing over at the still man Temari swallowed bile as she seen the Kunai protruding from his neck.

By her father's standards, Temari was an official shinobi, having claimed her first life, but Temari had done more than that, she watched the blood spurt from the man's throat, watched as he gagged on his own blood, watched as the life left his eyes, leaving them souless and dead. She couldn't help it as she fell to her knees and sobbed. Soon however the sound of light footsteps echoed through her ears. Glancing to the side her panic stricken brother bound towards her.

"Nee-Chan! Temari-nee! Are you ok?" The boy asked frantically taking in his older sister's bloody appearance and looking for wounds, any reason for her to be sobbing the way she was. She didn't appear to be injured, so what was wrong?

"Nee-Chan?"

"I-I killed him, Otouto. He's dead...because of me." This time, Kankuro felt as though he needed to be the protector. Gently he pulled his sister away from the corpse and the blood soaked sand around it. She easily complied to her brother's gentle coaxing as he brought her back inside the building. Her sobbing by now had lessened, but tears still streamed down her cheeks. Angrily Temari wiped them away, tears were nothing but weakness in liquid form and she would be having nothing to do with them especially since she could feel the all too familiar presence of her father.

"What may I ask is the cause of all this unnecessary commotion?" He asked venomouslyas he glared at his two oldest children who stood in the foyer of the mansion. Kankuro looked around nervous as he squirmed under his father's piercing gaze, but Temari it seemed was not going to have this today. Slowly she looked up towards her father with a look that could pierce steel.

"Unnecessary...Commotion? All this is because of YOU! Because you refuse to ever consider taking precautions to keep us safe from ANYTHING! What kind of father are you? You don't ever care-" The Kazekage slapped his daughter. Hard. Temari honestly wouldn't be surprised if he had jarred some teeth loose, the taste of coppery blood disgusted her as she spat it on the floor. Tonight was not going to be a pleasant one, but Temari was already in hot water, so she might as well speak her mind.

"What kind of Kazekage can't even keep his kids safe? What kind of man? I just _killed _someone because you don't care enough to protect us yourself!" She screamed, her body still trembling.

"Enough!" Kankuro shivered as he wondered what in the world was coming over his sister.

"You!" He snarled at his son who visibly shrank back. "Go back to your damn room!" The boy quickly complied scurring up the stairs, at the top he peeked around the corner and watched as his sister was grabbed roughly by the arm, Kankuro didn't miss the meaningful glance sent his way as she was dragged out of the foyer.

_End flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"What's wrong?"

"Neh?" Kankuro grunted looking up at his sister. Temari shook her head still staring at her brother.

"'Neh?' Really? You completely zoned out into your own little world, what's up?" If facial expressions were anything to go by then Kankuro was an open book. And to Temari's amusement the boy immediately spilled.

"It's nothing, just remembering the time you totally saved my bacon a few years ago is all. But what happened with you and our father? You'd never tell me, but I knew you couldn't move right for weeks..." Temari shifted uncomfortably recalling that night. Yes, she couldn't move right for weeks, it was more like a month or so. Sighing she shrugged.

"It's in the past, I would never take back what I did. You're my brother and I'd do it all again in a heart beat." Temari said with a smile. A low groan came from the once unconcious lump behind her and both shinobi looked over to it. Kankuro checked the ropes before grabbing his puppet 'Ant' and encasing the man inside.

"I'll bring this guy to the proper authorities, you get some sleep."

"What? I beat this guy's ass, I'll bring him in!" Temari protested but Kankuro shook his head.

"You don't have to do everything, besides you're in your pajamas...Just go to bed." He said with a smile as he left. Temari really did more than her fair share...she deserved a break every now and then.

In her room the blonde watched her brother walk down the street away from the mansion, puppet in tow. She sighed, Kankuro would occasionally ask about what happened that night between her and their father but Temari just couldn't tell him, he'd feel so responsible then he would tear himself apart about it. He needn't know of the scars on her back either, the only person who ever knew was Gaara and he had seen it by accident and even he looked disturbed by it.

_Flashback~~~~~_

Temari lay on her bed later that night her back searing. She had killed a man, she cried then, but wasn't going to cry now, not for this. 10 she had counted, ten lashes from the bamboo pole her father kept around. She wouldn't cry in front of him like she knew he wanted her to. Pushing herself up with a hiss of pain Temari made her way to the bathroom. Closing the door behind her Temari walked to the mirror turning to get a look at her back. As she tried lifting her shirt she gasped in pain. The shirt was stuck to the open cuts, gritting her teeth she pulled off the shirt in one swift go. The pain from the lashes was practically unbearable, as she looked in the mirror she could clearly see 8 bright red bloody wounds, two much darker and bloodier than the others.

'Wow, to think he'd have enough accuracy to hit a place twice in a row.' The girl thought viciously as she stared at the bloody marks. They stood out clearly against her tan skin, and some were still bleeding. Temari sighed, she knew she had to clean them or they would get infected.

Covering herself up with her bloody shirt Temari found some peroxide under the sink. Picking up the brown bottle the girl paled slightly, knowing the burn that was to come. Sitting on the edge of the tub Temari took a deep breath before pouring the clear liquid over her back. The new sizzling pain was instantaneous, and had it not been for her shirt muffeling her screams, she surely would have woken her brother. Falling to her knees Temari barely caught herself as she clenched her eyes shut tears burning in her eyes.

'No more crying! No tears, no tears, kami this burns!' Her sweat soaked forehead lay against the cool tiled floor as she gasped for breath. Glancing over she saw with much surprise that the bathroom door was open, and standing in the doorway with a look of shock in his eyes was Gaara. Though his face was it's usual mask of indifference, Temari could see in his eyes that he was disturbed by what he saw.

"H-hello Otouto, was there something..." she clenched her jaw tightly grimancing before looking back to her brother.

"...Something you needed?" The red headed boy simply shook his head but continued to stare at her back. Temari let out a waivering sigh.

"The Kazekage's angry with me." Temari said simply as if this were an every day occurance. Her brother blinked and continued to stare. Making sure she was still properly covered, Temari pushed herself back into a sitting possition on the edge of the tub. Reaching for the shower hose her eyes clenched in pain again, but to her surprise she felt the plastic hose settle near her leg. A small smile formed on her lips she looked towards her little brother. Her voice almost broke.

"Thank you Gaara." The seven year old simply blinked, and nothing more. It was as though he didn't want to acknoweledge that he had done something good. Temari shifted slightly and turned on the water letting it warm up slightly before switching it to the shower hose. Taking a deep breath she directed

the spray to her back. If this wasn't torture then she didn't know what was, her body actually trembled as she hissed slightly.

"Why?"

Temari looked over to her youngest brother who still stood stoically at the door.

"Why what Otouto?" he blinked again before answering.

"Why are you doing this, if it hurts you?" Was he worried? Temari was confused but answered anyways.

"If I don't, It could get infected, and that could make me very sick or worse...Gaara?" The boy continued to stare for a moment before blinking in recognition.

"Don't tell Kankuro about this. He'd be stupid and think that this was his fault."

Temari said softly as she shut the water off and pulled a towel towards her.

"Bathroom's all yours...thanks again Otouto...for your help." Temari said with another small smile as she walked past her brother covering her back with the towel hiding her punishment.

_End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

Yes, Kankuro didn't need to know. Temari sat in her window feeling the cool breeze tickle her skin. She took a deep breath of the chilled desert air and wondered where her youngest brother was.

**"Ok, let me see if I've got this right...You don't want to kill as much."**

"Yes."

**"You want control of me and my chakra to be used at your beck and call?"**

"Essentially."

**"And your teammates are completely off limits?"**

"Yes."

Shukaku sighed in annoyance. Her host got more unusual by the day.

"**So do tell, why on Kami's green earth would I ever agree to such terms?"**

Gaara paused for a moment. What would ever prompt her to do such a thing anyways? Honestly Gaara hadn't even thought this one out at all.

"Certain people are starting to become important to me... my teammates."

'Nia.' "I don't want to hurt them with your power. I want to use it to protect them." Shukaku listened intently. In the past she had been feeding off of Gaara's pent up anger, fear and hostility. The hate and fear towards his father, the hostility he had towards the villagers, and the fear from the villagers.

**"By now you've come to realize that my actions are fueled by your emotions, yes?"**

"Yes, I have which is why you haven't been so bloodthirsty as of late. And why you've setteled quite a bit as well." Shukaku left Gaara in silence for quite a while. This could be translated into two things: 1 Shukaku's ignoring her host intentionally. or 2 Shukaku was seriously considering his offer. Gaara was hoping for the latter.

**"I'll consider it. However one thing confuses me. Humor me and listen. You consider this Nia important as you've become somewhat close to the girl yes?" **Gaara nodded.

"Yes."

**"Well, would you ever destroy her house? Set it on fire? Blow it up?"**

"No, that would destroy any connection on a friendly basis."

**"Well, your father plans to destroy Konoha, which if I'm not mistaken is her home. While I'm completely up for it, I think that would be counterintuitive to your plans no? If you want to protect her, you must protect her home."** Shukaku had a good point, but then Gaara paused for a moment.

"Why are you being so helpful? What do you possibly gain for letting me have my way?" The red head asked. He knew he was jeopardizing his chances, but he needed to know.

**"I'm tired."**

"Then sleep."

**"I can't."** This statement thoroughly confused the jinchuriki.

"What do you mean you can't? You've always slept-"

**"No, I haven't. I settle, or rest, but do not sleep. If my host is unable to sleep, so am I. That problem lies with your seal. My Chakra's completely screwed up because of that seal. I'm unable to fully mesh with you, and I'm much more docile when properly rested you know." **Gaara nodded his head in understanding.

**"Didn't that guy...Kaji I think, claim to have a possible solution for you? Perhaps we should return and see if the man is of any use."**

**"**You're still being surprisingly cooperative."

**"I said I was tired damn it! I'm callin a freekin truce!" **Gaara truly stared at the demoness. She indeed looked unwell, and unrested.

"Everything I want to do is mutually beneficial." He said holding out his hand. Shukaku took his in a firm hold.

**"Then I'll agree to your terms my son, but for now I'm going to rest."**

The moonlit desert dreamscape slowly sifted away and revealed the now grey skies of Suna. The sun would be rising soon hopefully with it would be a better day.

**I have decided to put my own spin on the finals of the chunin exam! Just thought I'd let you guys know in advance, Plus I hope you enjoyed the chapter, It was quite long with 6451 words. Well I'm starting my summer job next thursday so I'll be updating both my stories with long chaps to make up for the change in hours i'll have! ****Sorry for the long wait, me and my mom just rescued my grandmother from the tornados in Oklahoma. The devistation down there was heartbreaking, so needless to say I was unable to write for 6 days or finish up my stories...Then when we returned not only did we find out thet my older brother hurt himself, but he needed surgery! so another 6 days I was away from my computer, as I stayed with my brother at the hospital. Luckily he's fine and he got home today so here I am finishing up chapters and posting. So sorry for the delay Guys! Read and review. **


	16. Taming the beast

A tough life

Chapter 16

Taming the beast

The desert is only a place for the strong. There is no room for weakness here and only the toughest can survive, how else could one explain the ecosystem? Scorpions, rattle snakes,and jackals were only a few on the list of the desert's deadliest.

Gaara watched as pack of jackals ran through the stretch of desert before him. The strongest, the alpha took charge leading the pack through out the harsh climates. There was only one speed, and it was the alpha's, that was a unspoken rule of the desert. _"If you can't keep up, don't step up, you'll just die." _

**"That's a pretty good rule to observe there. Out here you don't have to wonder if something's dangerous, everything is. Look, watch this..."**

Shukaku said as Gaara watched a limping jackle fall from the pack. Gaara had seen this many times, and knew what was to come as he watched the rest of the pack circle the wounded limping beast.

"**This is life in the desert, you fulfill your duties for as long and as best as you can and when you're no longer usefull..." **Screeching yelps could be heard in the distance as the pack converged on it's weakened member.

**"Your pack could turn on you." ** The alpha jackal stood on the body of it's ravaged packmate and lifted it's bloody muzzle towards the moon letting out a shrill howl before setting it's beady eyes on the figure of the desert jinchuriki, the latter staring back cooly. The jackal let out a final howl as if to say 'This could be you.' before turning and leading it's pack back into the sandy depths of the desert. The red haired boy simply nodded at the lesson the desert had bestowed upon him and continued walking towards the fire country. The journey normally took three days on foot, but with Gaara's added stamina from Shukaku that time was cut in more than half.

"I'm still not sure what to make of this guy..." Gaara said out loud to his demon who for the time being had decided to go along with her host's wishes.

**"Together we have a good sense of judgement. You can see through people clearly and I can sense their emotions and intentions. So far that man seemed ligitimate in his offer..."**

"But?" Gaara asked sensing Shukaku's hesitation.

**"There's a lot, and I do mean a lot, of repressed emotions that you've held bottled up inside of you." **Shukaku said slowly hoping her host would catch on. With no such luck Gaara continued to shurg.

"Your point?" He had a feeling of where Shukaku was bringing this conversation but he had to be sure.

**"Previous hosts have had episodes because of their bottled up anger, hostility and frusterations. If something were to trigger a particurlarly bad memory and those bottled emotions came through, we could deal quite a bit of damage to those around us. Just don't foget that we co exhist. Because before you only found a purpose in causing pain and death, I was subjected more to the wrathful vengeful emotions and used my power for that. You need to...how shall I say it? Lead by example, control your anger like you have and we should be fine."**

"I know my emotions affect you, but you were also extremely blood thirsty when you first 'awoke'..."

**"My previous host happened to be the most blood thirsty... Your thirst for vengence and blood was nothing compared to his." **Gaara nodded as he continued running through the silver lit sand dunes. He was making great time with out his teammates to slow him down. Unlike him, they needed rest every few hours or so. Finally Gaara stopped only three hours from the sand village and a 2 day's run to the boarder. Having used that time to be sure of Shukaku's intentions, and being happy with the result, Gaara vanished in a swirl of sand, and arrived at the boarder of wind and fire country in mere minutes. Even at the boarder it was still a good day's run to reach the hidden leaf village.

As the sun rose into the sky, the high walls of Konoha could be seen on the horizon. Gaara neared the gates and much to his surprise, the guard posts were vacant. Perhaps he had arrived at the time of the shift switch? Shrugging the lone sand genin passed through and entered the village after signing in the log in sheet. The village seemed quiet, the shops closed and empty, and the villagers still asleep in their beds. Having only been in the village once prior Gaara simply walked to one of the few familiar locations he knew, the park.

Like back at home the park was empty this early in the morning and Gaara took his place on the swing staring at the ground. Merely moments later he was flanked by two Anbu members.

"You're not of the leaf village, state your purpose now." The taller of the two with the dog mask said. Gaara had expected something like this to happen and kept his cool and his temper in check.

"I've come to see Kaji of Konoha's medical corps on private buisness." Short simple and informative, that's the way to do it.

"Of course you were-"

"Dog." The smaller and distinctly more feminine sounding anbu said in a warning voice. Immediately Dog nodded slightly.

"I apologise panther."

"Good." Panther said irritably, turning from her comerad she looked back at the ichibi container catching a glimpse of his Suna headband tied to his sash.

"You're from Suna, so you've traveled a great deal of time. Can you offer proof that you're to visit with our head of the medicinal herbs sector?" Panther asked in an authoritive yet kind voice. Gaara shook his head.

"No, but he is expecting me. I'm sure he would tell you the very same."

"A likely story." Dog said dripping with sarcasm, however Panther agreed.

"Yes, it is a likely story, Kaji has many visitors from many villages. Dog, go find our mentioned friend, I'm sure he'll be heading towards the main green houses by now. If this young man is telling the truth then surely Kaji will know him."

"Hai, sector leader." With that the taller man vanished, leaving Gaara and Panther alone.

"So you're him right?" She asked simply confusing the red head.

"What?"

"I know Kaji, and he's asked me a bit about sealing recently, saying that it's for his niece's friend. You're that friend aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, you're in and out of luck. When it comes to seals, you'll get no better than the 4th Hokage, but he's passed on. But in the world of the living, the best of the best is Jiraiya of the sannin. Unfortunately we've been looking for that man for years with little luck in locating him. But luckily Jiraiya-sama had a few teams, and while I didn't have Yondiame's talents I did pass second to the best. We'll discuss this more in depth at Kaji's place."

Minutes later Dog arrived with a disgruntled Kaji.

"You couldn't have waited for me to at least finish my coffee?" the red headed man snapped glaring at the masked male anbu member.

"I've told you it's a matter of national security, your coffee doesn't matter here!" Dog growled back.

"Enough!" Panther snapped. Looking at Kaji she noticed a rather large coffee stain down the man's front. She rounded on Dog.

"Really?" she hissed in annoyance. This had to be the worst anbu rookie of all freekin time! Shaking her head she looked towards the coffee covered man.

"Sorry Kaji, subtlety is not dog's forté." Panther said with emphasis on not. The man simply shook his head not noticing the suna genin sitting on the swing in his annoyance.

"So Panther, what's this all about?" He asked still sending Dog the occasional glare.

"Well I was hoping you'd tell me, This young man here." She said pointing to Gaara. "Says that you're expecting him some time this month. Is there any validity to his words?" Kaji leaned over and noticed the familiar red headed genin.

"Gaara! Yes, we had no set appointment date, I told him to come when he was available as his situation is an emergency case."

"Care to share the details of this 'emergency.' " Dog said as he finally got on Gaara's nerves.

"It's none of your buisness." He said with a glare.

"I'll make it my buisness you damn punk!"

"Enough you idiot!" Kaji snapped effectively silencing Dog. "It's called doctor-patitent confidentiality. If we're through here, I'm needed at the gardens, Gaara come. Panther, good day." Gaara stood and followed Kaji, the last thing heard was Panther verbally disciplining the newest recruit.

"It's good to see you Gaara, you're here quite early. I take it you've just arrived?"

"Yes, I left last night and arrived almost an hour ago. That female Anbu said you knew her?"

"Oh, yes that's Yomi. She's one of the village's top sealers, and a personal friend. She's trained next to the fourth himself, so her skills are nothing to laugh at. She can alter, create, and reinforce almost any seal." Gaara nodded as they walked towards the medic ninja's house.

Kaji opened the door leading Gaara inside. The boy looked around in curiosity. Books were scattered on the table along with some test tubes and beakers and dried herbs were stored in jars on a shelf that ran the length of the wall and went to the ceiling.

"This is our plant research area. As you know Koori and I work in the medical field. While we grow the medicinal herbs, we also try to find uses for them as well, and even sell some to civilians and ninja alike who make their own medicines." Gaara nodded as they walked into the kitchen.

"The hall way straight ahead will lead you upstairs, the door to the right is the pantry, the door to the left is the restroom and the door near the hall way will lead you to the basement. There we use special lamps to grow some very tricky and rare herbs, as the slightest change in atmosphere can affect them, I'd like to ask that you not go to the basement unless Koori or I is present. Understood?" Gaara nodded again.

"Good, I'll show you to your room." Kaji said as they began climbing the stairs, at the top Kaji began speaking again but in a much quieter tone.

"The drying room is the first door on the right. This is where we hang the plants for Konoha hospital. The herbs' moisture is wicked out and it is dried in a few days." Turning he walked down the hall. "This is mine and Koori's room." He said pointing to the second door on the right. Continuing on to the final two doors he said.

"This is another bathroom, and the door on the left is Nia's room. And here..." Kaji said as he pressed against a panel on the right side of the wall across from Nia's room.

"Is the attic...not to worry though, it's fully furnished. We use this as a guest room/storage room. Mostly it's just linnens up there...But this is where you will stay." What Gaara saw, he wasn't expecting, while a normal attic would have been dingy, small, and dull (not that he would have cared) This attic was open, bright, and airy. The skylight let vast ammounts of light into the large room. There was a window on three of the four walls, and there was a bed nestled against the wall to his right. Along the windowless wall several boxes were stacked neatly.

"Well, that's the house. Herb gardens are in the back so that's where you'll usually find Koori if you need her. Nia's still asleep and Koori should be up soon. I'll leave you here, I've got to change and get to work." With that Kaji left the jinchuriki to his thoughts.

**"Well, he's a bit weird, but I don't see why we can't trust him...he hasn't done anything off...you know?"**

'Yeah, he seems like he wants to help, and so did that woman earlier.'

**"It seems so."**

Gaara walked over and setteled himself on the padded bench near the window sill silently hoping he made the right deciscion by being here.

_Dear Koori,_

_I have been unwell this month, this illness is ravaging me, body mind and spirit. I wish I knew what was plagueing me. I have been having faintingspells, dizzyness and I can't keep anything down. You'd think with my inability to keep down food I'd be losing weight, but quite the contrary i'm actually gaining it. The doctors say it's the medicines i'm on, their steroids i think? Do you know what they are? I'm not sure I have much time left on this earth. I'm coming back to fire country. I want to see you, your husband and Nia again. My dearest sister, you raised that little girl, and in all rights she should be yours. Thank you for thinking of her as a daughter, it means the world to me. I'll be arriving in a month or so. Much love_

_Naiomi._

'Nia's going to want to do everything she can to help her and it will be completely futile.' Koori had recieved this letter almost a month prior, so it frightened her to no end when Kaji told her that they had a guest upstairs in the attic. Taking a few needed breaths Koori climbed the stairs and knocked on the door and opened it slightly.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes or so. Come down when you're ready." Turning Koori went to Nia's room to rouse her niece from her sleep before returning to the kitchen where she plated three meals. The first to arive was Nia who yawned as she sat down at the table. Koori waited patiently for their final guest to arrive. Finally she heard the footsteps decending the stairs, with bated breath she watched as a young man rounded the corner much to her relief.

"Gaara-kun! What are you doing here!" Nia asked excitedly as she dropped her fork with a loud clatter. Gaara's mask cracked a litle as he allowed her a small smile.

"Your uncle has offered to help me with something." Gaara said as he sat down at the table. He looked at his plate: Scrambled eggs, bacon, homefried potatoes, hash browns, and toast. It's not that Gaara was a picky eater...he was far from it. He just never ate _that _much food. Being polite he ate as much as he could, attempting to put as much of a dent into the over sized plate as possible before pushing it away.

"What's wrong hun? Aren't you hungry?" Koori asked looking at the redhead with concern.

"I don't eat much." He said as he avoided her gaze. For some strange reason seeing their concerned faces gave him a sense of guilt.

"Auntie, I have training today so I have to get ready. Would you like to come train with me and my team Gaara-kun?"

"Yes, I'll come." Again Gaara was surprised by himself, it just seemed so easy to say yes to Nia with her happy smile and bright eyes.

"Great! I'm gonna go get ready! Be back in a minute!" The brunette said as she raced up the steps. Gaara looked over to Koori who was smiling warmly at him.

"Nia has a team now?"

"Kind of.." She responded as she began gathering the breakfast plates and walking to the sink. "The Hokage's allowed her to work with teams with missing members, but from what i've heard, the missing member of team 11 gave up being a ninja. Possibly due to injury or illness, who knows."

"This life isn't for every one." Gaara said quietly.

"A true fact. I just hope Nia's ready for this kind of life style. It's challenging and unfair. She'll lose comerads, senseis, friends, and maybe even lovers." Gaara stared silently, but unknown to Koori that last bit sent a pang of nervousness through the red headed boy.

"It's the life of a ninja, the same life I gladly gave up to take care of her."

The sound of padding feet alerted the two of Nia's presence as she ran down the stairs.

"'Cmon Gaara-kun! Lets go! Bye Auntie, see you soon!" She said racing through the kitchen grabbing her things. Gaara shook his head at Nia's antics, but Koori caught the fleeting smile as he made his way out the door.

The sun beamed bright and hot in the desert village, it was easily 100 degrees, but it was a typical dry desert heat. The wind mistress of the Sabaku three walked through the market, her eyes scanning for the spiky red hair of her youngest brother. Temari hadn't seen Gaara in almost a week now, not that, that wasn't normal. However by now she would have at least seen a glimpse of him. A flash of red hair, a sudden sense of chakra, but nothing it was as if he had vanished.

Temari growled in annoyance, of all days her brother decided to vanish it was when they were called to speak with the Kazekage of all people. Sighing Temari made her way to the Kazekage's chamber. Outside were Baki and Kankuro who stared expectantly at her.

"I couldn't find him, I think he's actually left the village." Kankuro sighed and Baki looked annoyed."

"Fine."The jonin snapped. "It looks like this is going to be a long meeting." A simple hand sign later and an exact doppleganger of Gaara appeared. in Baki's place. "Enter" The three flinched before entering the room.

Gaara and Nia arrived at the training grounds, and moments later they were joined by Nia's two teammates.

"Gaara-kun, This is Ai Aburame, and Raizo Hyuga my teammates, guys, this is my friend from Suna, Sabaku no Gaara."

"Oh, so this is the 'friend' you talk about so much." Ai said with a smirk watching Nia blush slightly.

"I don't talk about him that much Ai!"

"You kind of do, Nia-chan." Raizo said with a smirk matching Ai's. He turned to Gaara.

"So Sabaku-san, If you don't mind my asking, why are you here? Are you going to train with us?"

"Yes, Nia invited me."

"Fine with me." the Hyuga boy said as he sat on the ground.

"I don't mind either, the more the merrier, right?" Ai said with a smile. Nia beamed at her teammates before turning to Gaara.

"I'm glad you decided to come, this'll be fun!"

The meeting with the Kazekage was a disaster, and Temari fumed as she stomped through the village. She was going to find her brother and she had an idea where to look.

"Temari, are you sure this is a good idea?" Kankuro asked as she packed some things into her back pack.

"Kankuro, not even Gaara can just leave his village when he wants to." She said in annoyance. Truthfully Temari wasn't even angry with Gaara, she was angry with none other than her father, and looking for her little brother outside of the village would be the perfect way to cool off.

"So where do you think he went?" Kankuro asked watching Temari pack.

"Konoha."

"Oh, and how're you getting there?"

"Weasel."

"Right." Kankuro said looking away.

"Fine you can come! Just stop looking like that damn it!"

"I'll be back in five!"

"Well hurry because I'm leaving in three!"

Temari walked out the door of the mansion and was greeted with Kankuro jumping from the window panting heavily.

"I *huff* I'm all *pant* packed." he gasped as Temari just stood reaching into her pocket.

"Here, if you hold this, the summon will bring you as well, it'll save me a lot of grief. Lets go." Together they walked to the edge of the village before Temari summoned her battle partner.

"Heya blondie, long time no see!" Temari allowed a small smirk for the weasel's antics before becoming serious.

"I need to make a long trip in a short amount of time, seeing how it's an emergency, will you help me out?"

"Not a problem, this guy comin' too?"

"Yeah, he's my brother."

"'Kay then. You know the rules of travel.."

"Hai, let's go I'm ready this time." Temari said readying her fan. The weasel's scythe vanished in a cloud of smoke and was replaced with a fan like Temari's. Each stood opposite from each other and charged up a full powered wind jutsu.

"Umm, Temari?"

"Shut up and trust me! Ok?"

Releasing the attacks simultaniously the two wind jutsus formed a large tornado, pulling all three in to it's center with it's heavy winds. Temari concentrated on her destination, and moments later the sand siblings landed mere yards from Konoha's eastern gate. Once Temari hit the ground she collapsed from chakra exhaustion.

"Temari what the hell was-? Temari! Hey wake up!" Kankuro panicked looking around he spotted the weasel.

"Hey weasel! What happened to my sister? Why'd she faint?"

"You don't haveta yell ya fool, That tornado was controled by her chakra, the faster it goes the more is consumed. We got here in a minute, that's usually a 3 day trip, she's gonna be whiped for a bit. Later!" The weasel said vanishing in a cloud of smoke. Grumbling in annoyance Kankuro grabbed his sister, pulling her onto his back and walked into the leaf village.

"Well, that was a work out." Nia said smiling up at Gaara. "I never knew you were able to do such things with your sand! It was incredible, no wonder you're called 'Gaara of the desert'!" The red headed boy simply nodded, not used to such exuberant praise. Together they walked back into the leaf village from the training grounds.

"Hey, do you remember the last time we were walking together through the village? I promised to show you all the interesting spots, didn't I Gaara-kun?"

"Yes you did, but I left, remember?" Nia nodded her head.

"That's right...Well how about letting me fulfill my offer and show you around the village, hmm?" Gaara glanced over towards Nia who stared expectantly at him. It was as if her eyes melted the wall of ice around his heart, tugging at it slightly. Gaara felt the twinge, it was small, almost undetectable, but he felt it.

"Sure...show me your world." Nia practically glowed.

"Alright, it's still early enough, so we'll start on the eastern side of the village, lets go!" She said happily tugging him towards their destination.

"This is where the hospital is, I work here with Auntie sometimes, especially if the staff is short handed." Gaara listened as Nia brought him through the village pointing out what she considered important. Though he paid attention as she spoke, Gaara couldn't help but let his gaze driftback to his 'guide'.

Every time Nia got excited her nose crinkled, when she smiled and laughed, her eyes got squinty. When she gazed around unsure of where to go next to keep her tour moving her brow would furrow slightly and she'd pout slightly. When she would think her fingers would be drawn to a specific curl in her wavy brown hair. All these little things caused the slight tug on Gaara's heart to twinge time and time again.

"And finally there's the Hokage monument, From the left to right are all the Hokages Konoha's ever had. Come on, let's go to the top!" Together they walked the trail leading to the summet of the stone faces, finally the top could be seen. Nia ran ahead and stared out across the village, the setting sun painting the view with brilliant oranges and golds, and the sky was tinted pink and purple. Golden light shillhouetted Nia's form as she leaned against the fence that blocked off the drop of the cliff face.

Nia turned to see Gaara staring and smiled.

"This is one of my favorite places, the view of the village is so beautiful at sunset." Gaara walked over and stood next to the brunette gazing out at the village. It was indeed a sight to behold, but so was the girl standing next to him.

"Well, that's the village...did you like my tour?"

"Yes, it was very interesting." Nia smiled at this praise. "Let's get back hmm?"

Together they walked towards the setting sun as they headed back to Nia's home, heading towards destiny.

Kankuro sat at the table of the hotel room in misery, his wallet, once full was now considerably lighter after he paid for their room. It wasn't as if he could just let his sister sleep outside in this condition...no, he had to be the responsible one some times...and some times being responsible meant sleeping on the table because that pain in the ass lobby clerk gives you a room with just one bed! Sighing Kankuro laid his head on his arms, he would rest, just for a minute.

Green eyes slowly opened and an unfamiliar ceiling came into focus.

"What? How did I get here?" Temari looked around. She was in a small room, straight ahead was a small tv, to her right was a door and window with the curtain drawn, and to her left was another door and a table with a figure sleeping soundly. Temari climbed out of the bed and peeled back the curtain. The sun was low and the sky was turning purple, the faint specks of light meant the stars were coming out.

"Damn it Baki, i'm not doing that...s' stupid." The still sleeping figure mumbled making Temari laugh quietly. Only Kankuro, even in his sleep he could make Temari laugh... only her brother. Stretching Temari quietly slipped from the hotel room. Room number 7, of the 'Stop on inn'.

'lame.' Shaking her head Temari walked towards the village center. The blonde had every intention of looking for her brother, but a familiar boy caught her eye. With his pineapple shaped hair, earrings and bored expression, how could she not recognize him? This was her opponent in the upcoming exam Shikamaru Nara...perhaps it would be wise to see what he was up to? Maybe...it's not like it would hurt right? Making up her mind, Temari started tailing Shikamaru instead of out right searching for Gaara. After all when you're not looking for something is when you actually find it.

Shikamaru it seemed was on a self appointed mission to get as far from the village as possible. Temari pulled back quite a ways to stay out of his sight as he entered the forest. While he stayed on the forest's floor Temari took silently to the trees, her sharp eyes trained on the shadow user. Suddenly he stopped in a small clearing and simply stood there, Temari watched and waited. She stared in awe as a large buck also walked into the clearing, it's antlers were huge! This was something you'd never get to see in the desert. As the deer walked towards Shikamaru it lowered it's head, pressing it into the boy's out stretched hand. Temari could hear him talking softly to the animal, but what she heard next made her almost fall out of the tree.

"Yeah, I know she's there, it's just too troublesome to make her leave..." After saying this Shikamaru turned, facing Temari's exact location. "I know you've been following me, It'd be stupid to stay in the tree now that you've been called out." Sighing Temari jumped down, he had a point there.

"So why were you following me?"

"Eh, curiosity got the best of me to be truthful." The deer now lowered it's head towards Temari, but in a not so friendly manor which slightly unnerved her. It dug it's hoof like foot into the ground before turning and leaving, practically melting into the forest.

"What was that?" Temari asked nervously. Shikamaru merely shrugged his shoulders as if it were plainly obvious.

"That was a warning and a show of acceptance. Acceptance because he find you to be no threat to him or his family, and a warning of what could happen if he finds you to be a threat."

Temari glanced around the clearing and fully understood the buck's message, fleeting shapes of deer could be seen. Suddenly something bumped her from behind. She turned slowly to see a small spotted fawn staring at her with it's large dark eyes.

"Can I... pet it?" The blonde asked hesitantly as more deer entered the clearing, investigating the two young shinobi. Again Shikamaru shrugged,

"Yeah, their deer, they wont eat you." Temari sent him a withering look before slowly reaching out her hand to touch the baby deer. There was at least twenty deer in the clearing, but it seemed that the fawn was enamored with the sand mistress. Smiling she pet the baby gently on it's head, and much to her surprise it took hold of one of her fingers and began suckling on it.

"You're so cute!" Temari gushed, that was until it took hold of one of her fingers on her other hand and tried nursing from that one as well, leaving a saliva soaked cluster of fingers on her other hand. "You're so gross, but you're so cute!" Temari laughed.

"Here, give her this." The shadow ninja said handing her a large bottle of what appeared to be milk. Looking over Temari seen a large bag of feed and a bucket that weren't there before, but she also noticed the scroll on the ground as well. Accepting the bottle she held it to the fawn who immediately took hold of it and began feeding.

"Her mom doesn't produce enough milk to feed her, that's why we have the bottle." Shikamaru said as he was scattering the feed inside the bag. Scooping a bucket full of the food, the leaf genin once again sealed away the large bag into the scroll and began feeding handfulls of feed to the deer. The fawn finally drained the bottle, but continued to suckle.

"I think she's still hungry..." Shikamaru offered the grain bucket.

"Take some, milk won't keep her full forever and she's about weaning age anyways." Temari grabbed a handful of the grain mixture and held it out to the hungry fawn, who picked at it curiously. Apparently the fawn liked whatever it was because it began eating the feed with more enthusiasm. Once her hands were empty of food, Temari looked around. The deer were melting back into the forest, all but one who walked towards her. The fawn's mother stared at Temari before nudging her baby and turning towards the forest. With one last nuzzle for Temari the fawn followed it's mother and they both dissapeared into the shadows.

"That was...it was..."

"Amazing isn't a good enough word for that huh?" Shikamaru asked with a smirk on his usually bored face. Temari shook her head dumbly, no amazing wasn't a good enough word. Shikamaru started walking.

"You can come to my house to wash your hands if you want." The boy said as he walked. Temari then looked down at her hands, they were gooey from a mixture of deer food and saliva.

"Yeah, that would be appreciated, thanks." This time they took a different way out of the woods, heading not towards the village center, but towards the Nara clan house instead. Suddenly Shikamaru stopped dead making Temari bump into him, a sigh escaped his lips as he stared ahead of him.

"_This _is going to be troublesome." Temari looked to where Shikamaru was staring and seen an angry looking black haired woman standing a few yards from them.

"Who's that?" Temari asked noticing how the boy was cowering slightly.

"Shikamaru Nara! Where have you been?" Temari raised her eyebrows.

"My mom..." He mumbled, and in a louder voice said "Doing my chores, I just finished feeding the deer." The look on his mother's face immediately lead Temari to the conclusion that Shikamaru had said the wrong thing.

Nia and Gaara walked into the house just a bit after dark, and as they entered, there was a new face. A tall grey eyed woman with dark green hair stood before them.

"Auntie Yomi!" Nia said happily hugging the woman who stood in the kitchen with Kaji and Koori. "What are you doing here?" Yomi smiled at the girl she called her niece, she had known Kaji long enough to consider him a brother so her title as aunt was well deserved. Brushing a strand of hair from her face Yomi answered her.

"I'm doing my brother a favor, and maybe i'll have some dinner as well. Besides, when do I need an excuse to come see my niece huh?" Nia just smiled.

"Nia, I have a few things to do at the hospital, simple patients will you help me out tonight? We're short on staff as well." Koori asked looking at the pair.

Nia looked at Gaara. "You don't mind do you?" The red head shook his head.

"I'll be fine with your other aunt and your uncle." Nia nodded.

"Alright let me just go get washed up and changed first, ok?" Koori nodded.

"I'll be waiting, Shift starts in 15 minutes." Nia ran upstairs leaving the three adults and Gaara in the kitchen.

"Alright we have Nia at the hospital for at least two hours, the last thing we want to do is freak her out with this, we don't want her to think we're going to hurt you Gaara." Koori said quietly.

"The re-sealing and or alteration of your seal should take at least an hour and a half, maybe longer to see how it works with you. Some work well, others don't, but we will find one that's compatible for you and your 'tennant.' " Yomi said listening to the footsteps upstairs as Nia moved around.

"We don't know how you'll react with having your seal altered, as long as you and your tailed beast are in agreement with the alteration we shouldn't have much of a problem." Kaji whispered.

"What you'll have to worry about are the side effects, sometimes things can happen that will cause your beast to react defensively and violently. we do not want that so we want you to communicate with it and let it know what is going on. We want everybody involved to be safe, including you." Yomi added softly. Nia raced down the stairs dressed in black and pink scrubs.

"We'll be back in a few hours honey." Koori said as she kissed Kaji good bye.

"Bye Auntie, bye Uncle! See you soon Gaara-kun!" Nia said with a smile. Koori hurried her out of the house and together they rushed to the hospital.

"We're going to do this tonight, tomorrow I start a month long mision. Where are we doing this?" Yomi asked looking around.

"The guest bedroom, there's plenty of space and no real chance of anything important getting destroyed." Kaji said leading the way upstairs.

**"So, tonight huh?"**

"Seems like it. Don't forget our agreement."

**"I know."**

Standing in the guest room Yomi looked at Gaara.

"Do you know where your seal is?" Gaara nodded as he removed his shirt and turned around. Channeling chakra a tattoo like mark began to glow near his left shoulder.

"Hmm, this is a very unusual place for a seal to be placed...When were you sealed if you don't mind me asking."

"Before I was born." Yomi looked shocked then somber.

"Your mother has passed hasn't she?" Gaara simply nodded. Yomi sighed, who ever had done the sealing of this boy really screwed him over. Had they simply sealed the biju inside of him moments after birth they would have had a much better result, and if there were no complications he would have had his mother still. Not to mention the shaudy seal work. places were either missing or incomplete, no wonder this poor boy was such a mess. All Yomi had to do was include the missing parts, properly complete the seal, and reinforce it with a proper bind and Gaara'd be all set.

"Ok, I'm going to fill in and complete your seal properly, then I'm going to put a proper reinforcement bind that will keep it in place. Once that is done you should be separated from your Biju. You can communicate with it, and you can access it's chakra, but it can't control you like it has in the past. Get ready." Yomi said as she began completing the seal with her blood.

'You ready?'

**"Ready."**

"We're ready, just do it." Yomi nodded, her reinforcement seal in place and Gaara's seal completed, Yomi formed hand signs lightening fast and pressed her glowing hands to the boy's seal. Gaara gritted his teeth in pain as the seal re worked it's self. He felt as if it were searing into his flesh.

**"What the hell is she doing? This hurts...I don't like this...She'll pay for hurting us!"**

"No! She's helping us, she's doing good. I want to use your powers to do good, not to hurt people anymore."

**"But she's hurting us!"**

"Some pain now for a life time of happiness is a fair trade, right?"

Kaji stared in shock and the demon and Gaara communicated to each other out loud. He could literally hear the voice change as they went back and forth. As the sealing began coming to a close, Kaji could hear Shukaku less and less. She was losing what ever control over Gaara she had, even use of the boy himself.

**It hurts less now...I feel kind of tired...are these bars? I always knew I was a prisoner in here, but this is just ironic..."**

**'**Yes, it does hurt less, and I feel strange, really heavy for some reason...everything's kind of blurry." The last thing Gara seen in his mind scape were golden bars with the kanji for 'Sealed' on them. Opening his eyes he looked around from his seat on the chair Kaji and Yomi were in front of him.

"Gaara how do you feel?" Yomi asked carefully. The red headed boy stood wearily.

"I'm...fine..." Gaara fell forward and Yomi caught him.

"Kaji is he alright?" The older man immediately came over and inspected the boy. His eyes widened in surprise. "What is it Kaji?"

"He's...asleep. I thought he might have fainted or passed out from the stress, but he actualy fell asleep!" Yomi nodded her head.

"That explains it, those rings around his eyes. At first I thought they were the markings of his Biju, like Naruto's scars on his cheeks, but these are insomnia rings. I've only heard of this happening but I've never actually seen it. How sad, this boy was suffering for such a long time, and it takes a few strangers from another village to solve the problem. And to think it was this easy the whole time." Yomi carried Gaara to the bed and laid him on it and covering him with he blanket.

"Sleep well young one, you deserve some peace." Turning off the light Kaji and Yomi left Gaara sleeping in the bed.

It took Temari an hour and a half to finally convince Yoshino Nara, Shikamaru's mom, That she willingly helped the genin with the deer, and after being forced into having dinner with them, Temari was released back to the village.

'Jeeze with a mom like that no wonder the boy finds everything so troublesome.' Temari thought wryly. Shaking her head she continued to wander through the village until she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"What the hell Temari!" Then she realized it, all that time spent bonding with deer and being forced into having a delicious meal against her will, Temari had forgotten about Kankuro. "Where were you I was worried sick!" Temari raised an eyebrow.

"I went looking for Gaara, followed my chunin exam opponent into the woods, fed some deer, and was forced to have dinner with the boy's family because his mom's a bit off the deep end." She said honestly. Kankuro scoffed.

"If you don't want to tell me it's fine but you don't have to lie, sheesh!"

"I'm not lying! I only wanted to wash the baby deer drool off my hands because it wanted to eat me! But nooo his mom made me eat dinner and it was delicious. That crazy or what?"

"You're crazy!" Kankuro snapped.

"Temari?" a different voice asked. The suna girl rounded on the new voice.

"What? Oh! Nia? Hi!" The girl said with a smile after realizing who she just yelled at. "Sorry about that, just a little arguement with my brother." She said sheepishly.

Nia looked over at Kankuro who still looked annoyed.

"Hi I'm Nia."

"Kankuro." The boy said bluntly. Shrugging her shoulders Nia turned back towards Temari.

"Did you come with Gaara-kun as well?" This gained Kankuro's attention.

"You've seen our brother?" Nia smiled.

"Of course, he's my friend! He's at my house, I was just heading there if you wanted to find him." Kankuro looked truly surprised as Temari followed closely behind Nia. Luckily, the house was only minutes away and as they walked up the steps the door opened.

"Nia, you're back already?" Yomi said sparing a glance to the two new faces. "I'm glad you made it home in time to see me off love!" she said catching herself quickly as she smiled giving the girl a hug. "Gotta go, see you!" Waving the older woman departed in a cloud of smoke.

"Come on in, Gaara-kun's inside." Leading the two in the house, Nia stopped in the kitchen when she seen her uncle.

"Welcome home Nia! Who are your friends?" Kaji asked, sipping a cup of coffee. Nia smiled.

"These are Gaara-kun's siblings, Temari-chan and Kankuro-san. Where's Gaara-kun?" Nia asked looking around noticing the lack of her red haired friend.

"Oh, Gaara went to bed, your tour must have tired him out."

"WHAT?" Temari gasped, "Gaara can't sleep, if he does then-!" Kaji held up a hand to silence the blonde.

"Nia why don't you go check on him?" the older man said sternly.

"Umm, ok? I'll be back in a bit." Once the girl was out of earshot Kaji turned to the Sabaku siblings.

"You two being Gaara's siblings, know what he is correct?"

"Yeah, a monster." Kankuro grumbled yelping as Temari punched him.

"I told you _not _to say that about-" Then she stopped and turned towards Kaji.

"How did _you _know what he was?" Temari asked in a hushed voice.

"Long story, but to the point I offered to help your brother, and he accepted. A friend of mine who's pretty decent with seals inspected his and needless to say it was pretty much a botched job. She corrected his seal and completed it as well. Gaara and Shukaku are now two seperate beings. Because the seal was done improperly, and at the absolute worst time, it probably resulted in the death of his mother, not to mention it probably messed with his head making the boy imbalanced. Jinchuriki need proper seals or a whole host of problems can occur. Judging by how quickly he fell asleep I'm under the impression that he never got much if any sleep at all. Am I wrong?" Temari shook her head.

"But how did you know?"

"I'm related to a jinchuriki and for saving the life of said tailed beast it gave me some of it's powers as a thank you. I can sense the Biju, I immediately knew what Gaara was. Nia does not know, and it's up to only Gaara to reveal this information to her."

"So you fixed him?" Kankuro asked bluntly.

"In short yes."

"So he'll be mentally stable now? No more incidents?" Temari asked hopefully.

"There should be no more trouble, Shukaku can no longer control your brother."

"Can I see him?" Temari asked hesitantly. Kaji nodded.

"Upstairs last door on the right." Temari immediately headed towards the stairs. She wouldn't believe a word until she seen her brother sleeping soundly with her own eyes. At the end of the hallway Temari turned and began climbing the stairs to the attic but stopped when she heard Nia speaking. Silently she peeked through the crack and seen the girl sitting on the edge of the bed smiling down at Gaara.

"I'm glad you're finally getting some rest, you looked so tired today. I'm so happy you came to visit too. I'd never have the courage to say this if you were awake, but I really like you Gaara-kun. You're a great friend." Gently brushing his hair from his forehead Nia looked at the tattoo.

'Love...is this to remind you of what you're searching for? Or to remind you of what you lost I wonder...' Leaning down Nia kissed his forehead. "Sleep well Gaara-kun." Temari crept down the stairs and then started to climb them loudly before opening the door. When she entered Nia was standing near the door ready to bolt down the stairs, and as she did so, Temari couldn't help but notice the blush staining the younger girl's cheeks.

Temari smiled at her sleeping brother. Maybe now, they could be like they used to be. That thought stopped it's self in her head. No, they could never be like that anymore. Had she not neglected him like she had, rampant demon or not they'd have still been close.

"Gaara I'm sorry, I hope I can make this up to you, no matter how long or what it takes I will. You've always been my Otouto, I hope you know that." Standing Temari left the room clicking off the light.

**Bwahahaha im on a roll! I already know what Im doing next chapter...just so you guys know most of this stuff is just off the top of my head, but even so I like how my story's coming out. The whole Temari baby deer thing is exactly what happened with me and a baby cow at a dairy farm. It tried to eat me... I thought it would be cute to put in some random times like these, after all aren't these the things we cherish in our own lives? Thanks for reading!**


	17. Life anew kind of

A Tough life

Chapter 17

Life a new...kind of...

"Nia come downstairs." Koori said for at least the eighth time in ten minutes. By now she was quite annoyed, not to mention they had another guest.

"She hates me doesn't she sis?" a tired voice said from across the table. Koori looked at her sickly sister, her once honey colored complexion was now pale, and her long dark hair was pulled back into a braid.

"Naomi, Nia doesn't hate you. She doesn't even know you, why won't you tell her who you are?" Koori asked gently. Naomi sighed.

"Because if she doesn't hate me then she will..."

"But-"

"I abandoned her! What kind of mother does something like that? This illness is a punishment for what I've done to that girl. To YOUR daughter." Koori sighed and sat with her sister holding her hand. Finally the sound of feet could be heard on the stairs.

"Auntie it's been almost four days and Gaara-kun's still not up yet...What if he's-" Nia stopped catching sight of the woman at the table.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know we had company! Here, I'll put the kettle on and make some tea." Moving quickly to the kitchen, Nia didn't notice Naomi burst into tears.

"S-she's so b-b-beautiful! I missed everything with her." she said practically melting. However her tears were quickly wiped away as Nia entered with the tea tray.

"Hun, I have to go find somethings in the storage room, why don't you keep our guest company?" Koori said leaving the room. Nia nodded as she poured two glasses of tea.

"Sugar?" Nia offered Naomi shook her head.

"No thank you Nia. Do you take sugar in your tea?" The younger girl laughed.

"Oh no, I'm sweet enough with out it!" She said with a smile that made Naomi want to start bawling again.

"S-so, tell me about yourself."

"Well, my aunt and uncle raised me, I'm trained in medicine, I'm a ninja and I have only a few friends, but we're very close. I like animals and my favorite food is probably lobster. I had it once when I was younger and it was delicious. But i've never had it again...then again we were on vacation..." Nia said, adding the last part as an after thought.

"Well...what do you know...about you know... well about your parents?" Naomi asked hesitantly.

"Not much, I just know that they left me with my aunt and uncle-" Nia said before she was cut off.

"Do you hate them for that? For just abandoning you like you were nothing?" Naomi blurted out.

"Hey! You will not talk about my parents like that! They would never just dump me! Had they really felt that way I'd probably be left in a ditch, Not with my aunt and uncle!" Nia said angrily putting her glass down. "If you'll excuse me, I have better things to do with my time than to listen to a complete stranger degrade my parents like they were nothing." As she walked from the room she stopped when the woman behind her called after her softly.

"Nia, I'm so sorry."

"How do you even know my name when I never even told it to you!" Nia asked still annoyed, but hiding it well.

"Because I gave you that name the day you were born." Then Nia noticed, they had the same colored eyes, the same eyebrows, the same nose and mouth, even the same color of hair. Taking a few steps back Nia stared in shock before turning and running from the room.

"NIA!" Naomi called uselessely as she watched her daughter run from the room. Koori rushed in, her arms filled with dried herbs.

"What happened?" She asked gently knowing how fragile her older sister was.

"She ran upstairs. Nia knows Koori and I think the news scared her." Koori sighed before dumping the herbs on the table.

"What exactly does she know? About your illness, that you're her mother or both?" Naomi looked towards the ground.

"She doesn't know I'm sick yet, but she knows who I am." Naomi said softly.

"Well, we'll give her some time to calm down and I'll have a talk with her."

It was dark, a good kind of dark. It felt nice here, Gaara felt relaxed, truly relaxed for the first time in a long time. But something felt off...what was he hearing? Was...was he hearing... crying? Why did that sound make him so uneasy? His heart hurt...

**"Wake up..."**

'I want to...everything feels so heavy."

**"It's completely normal. It's called sleep paralysis, a sudden chakra surge should get you up." **Gaara felt a small zap comparable to that of a static shock. Opening his eyes the blurry outlines of the room's contents shifted into focus. As he glanced around his eyes caught sight of the person making such a heart wrenching noise. Nia was crying, her arms and head resting on the bed.

**'**Nia...why is she crying? Why?'

"Why...why are you crying...Nia?" Gaara asked hoarsely.

"Gaara-kun! Y-you're awake!"

"Why are you crying?" He asked again pushing himself up.

"I-I don't wanna go with her! W-w-what if they want me to leave with her?" Gaara gave Nia an utterly confused look.

"You don't want to go with who?" Gaara now had sat upright and was much more alert.

"My m-m-mother! She came back, w-what if she wants t-to take me away? I'm scared that that's going to happen." Gaara hesitantly placed a hand on Nia's head.

**"Comfort her, let her know that you'll keep her safe. Females look for security in a mate."**

"I don't want Nia as my 'mate'

**"Well you want to be with her right?"**

'I don't want her gone if that's what you're implying." Shukaku sighed.

**"If you can keep her safe then she'll have a reason to never leave. She has caring emotions for you already..." **Gaara rose from the bed a bit unsteadily and walked towards the door.

"I'll be right back. Wait here." he said as Nia stood to follow him. Walking down the stairs and after a short stop to the bathroom where vast ammounts of water was consumed, Gaara made his way towards the first floor of the house. Hearing footsteps, Koori ran towards the staircase.

"Nia? Oh, Gaara good morning." Gaara simply nodded before speaking.

"What's the situation with Nia and her mother?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Nia's afraid that she's going to be taken away from you, that her mother's come to take her away."

"No! I'd never let that happen ever!" Koori gasped. Gaara nodded.

"She's upstairs crying, I thought you should know why." He said turning and heading back up the stairs.

"Gaara wait. Let me explain my sister. Naomi was always sick as a child, and like myself she became a ninja. Her illnesses only increased in severity and duration. She went to the land of stone at 20, two years later she returned and was pregnant...at least in her fifth month. Because her illnesses would do increasing damage to her immune system, having a child to care for would have been extremely taxing and would have done damage to them both. Naomi loves Nia, and knows that she has a happy loving and safe life here. Gaara Naomi will be gone in a few months. She just wants to know her daughter before she leaves us."

"She's going to die, isn't she? That's what you mean by 'leaving' right?"

"You're very observant Gaara. Yes she's going to die, her illness is terminal...why don't you take Nia in to town, go see a movie, get lunch, maybe visit a few shops. When she gets back we'll talk about Nia and Naomi." Koori dug through her purse and pulled out some money, handing it to the red head.

"Go get her mind off her worries, I'll handle the rest." Nodding Gaara took the money and headed upstairs.

"Nia?" Gaara asked softly.

"Yeah?" She said drying her eyes.

"Let's go somewhere." Nia looked up at Gaara.

"Anywhere?"

"Anywhere." She nodded as she slowly stood from her spot on the floor.

"I'm happy that you're finally up Gaara-kun, you had me worried. I mean you must have been exausted, you slept for three whole days!" Gaara nodded, truthfully he was still nervous about voulentarily sleeping, and the fact that he had slept at all surprised him greatly, though he had to admit a rested Shukaku was far better company than the sleep deprived demon of the past.

"So where are we going?" Gaara asked. He had followed Nia as she climbed out the window, now they were walking through the forest near the edge of Konoha. How they had gotten there so quickly even Gaara didn't know.

"Some place special to me... I want to show it to you, then we can go to the village market." Nia said as she walked onwards. Gaara looked around taking in the changes, the trees were larger here and the sound of rushing water could be heard. Finally they came to a clearing...A large waterfall surrounded by wildflowers was the picture before their eyes.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Gaara nodded, it was quite a sight. He hadn't expected to see such a thing in Konoha, and never would he had gotten to see this in Suna. Though many would take his silence as a normal thing, Gaara as infact speechless at the sight.

"Can you swim Gaara-kun?" This question took him by surprise.

"What?" Nia repeated her question and watched as Gaara stared at the water before shaking his head.

"I thought so...I wanted to show you my special spot, but the thought that you can't swim never crossed my mind. I'm sorry."

"All you do is hold your breath and move your arms and legs right?" Gaara asked looking at Nia.

"Well, yeah that's the mechanics of it after all..." Nia drifted into silence as Gaara walked over to the edge of the water, taking off his shoes. "What are you-?"

"It's customary to remove your clothing before you swim right?" he asked now folding his shirt and putting it on top of his shoes and other belongings.

"Yes, but Gaara..." Nia said hesitantly.

"Yes?" He looked over at her.

"You can't swim." she said softly.

"And?" Nia stared at him. Was he really going to jump in to something he had no idea about? Just to please her? 'Do I really mean that much to you Gaara-kun?'

"I just don't want you to feel forced into doing anything Gaara-kun." The brunette said looking into his sea green eyes.

"You never told me to swim. You asked if I could. I'm doing this because I want to." Gaara said now clad in only his shorts. Nia couldn't help but stare at him before smiling.

"We're going to have to swim under the waterfall, so I want to practice swimming under water with you for a bit, ok?" Nia asked as she too removed her shoes, placing her stuff next to his. For the next few hours, Nia tried to the best of her ability to teach Gaara to swim and with some success. He could swim under water and float, but that was all. Not bad at all for a few hours of work.

"Ok, you can swim kind of, and you can float, but you can't really direct yourself under water all that well yet... For now, just hold my hand and I'll show you the way." Taking Gaara's hand, Nia dived under the water pulling him as she swam through a well hidden opening.

The tunnel was easy enough to get through and in no time they broke the surface of the water in the cavern behind the waterfall. Reaching her free hand out, Nia grabbed the large boulder and pulled herself and Gaara towards it, the red head grabbing it immediately. He looked around the cavern as he wiped the water from his eyes. Sunlight streamed in from the cracks in ceiling lighting up the darkness of the hidden cave. Nia was the first to pull herself from the water and on to the stone ledge, and Gaara soon followed.

"How did you find this place?" Gaara asked looking around in amazement. The stone ledge was covered in gravely sand, and the cave went back at least sixty feet, if not more.

"Funny story actually, I almost drowned, my foot got caught in between some rocks, and when I was panicking I reached out for anything to pull on so I could get my foot free. Needless to say, I ended up grabbing one of the edges to the tunnel and when I pulled my foot out, I kind of threw myself in the tunnel!" Nia laughed "So as I flailed around to get air, I ended up coming out here and it's been my secret spot ever since." Nia said with her usual bright smile.

"Nia, do you always take near death experiences so well?"

"Only when I survive them!" Gaara nodded as he continued to look around the glittering cavern.

"Gaara-kun?" Nia asked as she dangled her feet in the water.

"Yes?"

"I know you don't talk much, but if you ever do need to talk, You know I'll listen right?" Gaara nodded silently as Nia gently kicked her legs back and forth.

"**You should tell her about us...You're like her...kind of. Though she doesn't know the pain of a jinchuriki, she has the power of one even if she doesn't know it."**

**'**So...eventually she's going to find about what she is..."

"**Exactly. Some people take the news harder than others, I remember one host I had named Rika...she cried her heart out at the thought of being a 'monster'."**

'Her knowing what I am will make it easier for her when the time comes, am I right?'

"**Bingo...your mate's calling you 'Gaara-kun'." **Shukaku said with a smirk as Gaara scowled.

"She's not my mate!" He snapped. Nia stared at him curiously, and with confusion.

"Umm, Gaara-kun? What was that about?" Gaara paled. Had he actually said that out loud? 'Crap.'

"Nothing." Gaara said quickly hopping into the water, hoping Nia wouldn't pry. A stream of bubbles came from his lips as he sank to the sandy bottom. He felt like his face was burning, even under water.

**"It's called embarassment I'm surprised you couldn't figure this one out by yourself." **Shukaku teased.

'Shut up!' While Gaara and his demon snipped back and forth, neither remembered that he was still under the water, until he felt a splash and a pair of arms wrap around his chest as he was pulled to the surface. The light was much brighter here as they surfaced back on the outside of the waterfall. Gaara took a deep breath of air as his feet touched the sandy ground.

"What the hell was that? Were you trying to get yourself killed! Gaara-kun you can't just zone out like that under water, that's how people die!" Nia said in a panicked voice that made Gaara feel guilty.

"I'm sorry...why don't we go into town now?"

"Sure." Together they ventured into Konoha's market place looking at the displays and glancing through windows until Nia stopped and stared at a glass display case.

"Wow." she breathed staring at the display dummy. Gaara took a look. It was a necklace studded with hundreds of tiny diamonds in intricate patterns and designs.

"Wow, that thing must cost a fortune. Who would buy something like that anyways?" he said as he checked the tag... it should have simply read' a lot'.

"What that necklace? Ugh, too much...too much money, too over the top...but look at that bracelet..." Nia said pointing to a dark colored chain that was barely noticable among all the other objects in the case. This gained Gaara's intrest as he examined the small chain further. On the chain, every few links or so was a shining red crystal bead, 8 in total. and instead of a normal latch at the end there was a T shaped piece of metal on one side, and a heart shaped piece on the other. Gaara peeked at the tag, of all the things in that display case, the bracelet was by far the most reasonably priced. Nia dug through her pockets searching for some money before sighing. After giving the bracelet one last look she turned and continued on walking.

Gaara turned towards the vendor and pointed towards the bracelet. The older woman smiled.

"You're getting this for somebody special aren't you?"She said with a knowing smile looking off in the direction Nia was.

"Yes, how much?"

"Is it that cute little girl who just left?" She asked pulling the bracelet from the case.

"Yes."

"Such a sweet show of affection. Here you go sonny, it's on the house." she said placing in in Gaara's hands and holding his for a moment. "My jewelry is made to last a lifetime, and made with love, have a good day dear."

"Thank you." Gaara said softly staring at the bracelet in his hand, pocketing it he hurried off after Nia who was looking into another window. Hours passed as they spent the day wandering through Konoha, even stopping for lunch.

The sun had set long ago as they made their way back to the house they ended up back at the market and were passing the same vendor's stand where Nia seen the bracelet. As they passed Nia did a double take.

"It's gone..." she whispered to herself.

"What is?" Nia looked over at Gaara who watched her.

"The bracelet from this morning, somebody must have bought it."

"Oh, you mean this one?" He asked holding it up as Nia beamed.

"You got it for me? Thank you so so much Gaara-kun!" Nia said hugging the boy tightly much to his surprise.

"I know you have a lot on your mind, but don't worry about your mother being here. I think she just wants to get to know you, not take you away." Gaara said as they continued walking, Nia putting on the bracelet.

"You really think so?"

"Yes, you don't have anything to worry about." 'I hope.'

"You know Gaara-kun you don't talk about your siblings much." Gaara turned to look at her.

"There's not much to talk about, they don't care about me. I...my fath-" Gaara sighed running his hand through his hair.

**"Just tell her, you're making too much of a big deal out of it."**

"Gaara-kun, that can't be true, they've come every day to see if you've woken up yet!" Nia said pulling Gaara to a stop to look at him. At these words he genuinely seemed surprised.

"What?"

"Gaara-kun, Temari and Kankuro have come by to check on you every day, why would you ever think they wouldn't care about you? You are a kind quiet person who has a big heart, granted your people skills are a bit lacking, but you're an amazing person, surely your brother and sister must think so as well?" She said as she looked him in the eyes. Hearing these words clouded Gaara's eyes with doubt and Nia could see it.

"There's something about me that people fear Nia. I killed my mother when I was born, I've hurt my sister, hurt my brother. My family, my village, the kazekage the man who I regretfully call my father, they all fear me, they all hate me for what I am, for what's inside me. I'm a monster." Nia brought her hand to Gaara's cheek gently before slapping him. Much to his surprise it was she who was crying.

"Don't you ever say that again. You are not a monster Gaara-kun. You're a good person, a kind person with so much to give. I don't believe that for a second. Who ever refuses to know you it is their loss. Nothing can change what I think of you." Gaara looked to the ground, through his life there was very little he had feared. But now he truly feared saying the words he knew he had to speak.

"Nia, I'm a jinchuriki, a demon host. Back home in the sand village, I've killed people...innocent people, I've hurt my siblings. When I came here it was the first time that I was ever looked at with out fear, here was the first time somebody ever spoke to me with out fear. Nobody knows what I've done here, my demon the one tailed racoon Shukaku is what I house inside me. Your uncle offered to help me before I left. The seal holding Shukaku inside me was incomplete and made my mind unstable, your aunt Yomi helped there. Before Shukaku's influence over me was immense. I could barely control it and-" Nia stopped him.

"Gaara-kun it's ok. You are still you, I see you no differently. You must be incredibly strong to have such control over your tailed beast. And I'm happy you've confided this to me. No matter what I will always see you as you. You will always be my friend you know." She said softly as she smiled at the red head.

"Nia, I-...Thank you." he said softly as Nia hugged him. He wondered if he'd ever get used to hugs. Then at that precise moment he heard the sound of kunai being flung towards them as his sand shield rose to protect them both. He pulled her behind him as the sand shield lowered. Gaara glared at the person who dared endanger his Nia.

"Heh, and to think I thought I'd be able to get you when your back was turned." The sound ninja said. Gaara recognised him from the exam.

"What do you want?" he said as he blocked Nia from view as he encased her in sand dome.

"I want to fight Sasuke in the exams, and if I can kill you then it's a sure thing." Nia heard the word kill and her blood ran cold.

"Gaara-kun! What's going on?" She asked trying to get out of the sand dome.

"Oh, is that your girlfriend in there?" Dosu said as he uncovered the amplifier on his arm and striking it quickly. For a moment Gaara thought that the attack failed until the sound of Nia's muffled scream came through the sand dome. The shield dropped immediately to reveal the small bruinette on her knees covering her ears tightly as she slumped to the ground. Now Gaara was pissed.

'This guy is dead meat.'

"**Don't you know it." **Shukaku growled. Sand encased Gaara's arm as he slashed at the unsuspecting sound ninja quickly ending his life. Gently he picked Nia up, she was much lighter than he thought she'd be, and he walked back to the house.

Upon entry to the home he was greeted with quite a sight. Temari, Kankuro, Koori, Kaji and a sickly woman who could only be Nia's mother Naomi were all sitting at a table talking animatedly. And like a cartoon they all turned to see who entered, and naturally Koori,Kaji and Naomi freaked out seeing an unsoncious Nia in Gaara's arms. As expected came the line of questions, all which he answered. After a quick exam showing that all was fine, Koori brought Nia upstairs to her room, Naomi following.

Gaara stood in the kitchen in the akward silence as he stared at his siblings.

"I'm not doing it." He said simply as he looked at them, mostly at his sister hoping that she'd understand his hidden message. "I'm not going to throw this away. And I'm telling the Kazekage as well." Temari stared in shock.

"But Gaara it's his order, we have to!"

"Well I'm not...I do have something to tell you both though..." Temari and Kankuro exchanged looks before giving Gaara their attention.

"I'm sorry for the person I became. I'm sorry that it took so long for me to change. I'm ready to be sure I never become that way again. Who I am now hates who I've been...and who I've been only ever makes me sorry for being what I became..."

"Gaara..." Temari said softly as she looked at her youngest brother, the pain was evident in his eyes, along with the longing of acceptance.

"There's no reason to apologise, we've already forgiven you." Kankuro said reaching for a cookie on the plate in the middle of the table. Gaara looked at them as Temari spoke up.

"Kankuro's right, we've already forgiven you for the past. There's nothing to worry about. Kaji filled us in. And I'll come with you to talk to the Kazekage. I don't think we should either it's wrong. When do you want to go?"

"Tomorrow night." Gaara said looking towards the window. "The Chunin exam finals are in a week. With Shukaku's help I can get us back to suna in a few hours."

"OK, tomorrow night it is then. For now we should all rest." Temari said as she stood from the table. Gaara watched as his siblings took their leave. Now it was just him and Kaji who sat silently drinking his coffee.

"I told her." Gaara said as he sat at the table looking at the older redhead who nodded sagely.

"And?"

"She slapped me." At this Kaji spit out his coffee in shock.

"What?" That sounded completely unlike his niece. He stared curiously as Gaara smiled.

"She said that I was not a monster, and that I was a good kind person. She hit me because I called myself a monster."

**"You are who you chose to be 'Gaara-kun'. " **Shukaku said teasingly. But to Gaara she had a point. He no longer wanted to be the all feared monster of Suna. Instead...maybe he wanted to protect it...only the future would tell.

**Yo people! I'm not dead! hahaha, I like putting things in between the chunin exam chapters, I mean every chunin exam fanfiction is extremely similar, the same things happen all the time, so Like I said last time, I'm going to do the chunin exam my way and hopefully you'll like it. I know that Gaara opened up to his siblings and apologised earlier than the manga, but then again now he has somebody to show him the good in the world. To show him that he's not alone any more. And did you read the newest posted chapter of Naruto online on the 12th? You get to see baby Gaara! Bwahahaha I love the scene with him and his mother when he was just born. That chapter will make you hate the 4th kazekage more than you ever did, but you'll hate him less as well. Updates soon! **


	18. The man called 'Father'

A tough life

Chapter 18

The man called father

The time to return to Suna had come, and after their good byes, Gaara Temari and Kankuro exited Konoha and began walking towards wind country.

"You said that you had a way to get to Suna faster right Gaara?" Kankuro asked watching his brother for any sign of his technique.

"Yes I do, but I'd like to wait until we get closer to the boarder...it's less chakra I have to expend". Kankuro nodded.

"So what's your plan for dear old dad?"

"You're talkative today Kankuro." Temari said as they continued walking. "But I would like to know what you plan to do Gaara. You know the Kazekage's an extremely stubborn man. When he's determined to do something it's a rare thing for him to be swayed." Kankuro nodded

"Temari has a point, he is a stubborn guy." Gaara nodded thoughtfully. He really hadn't put much thought into exactly what he was going to say to the man the three were to call 'Father'.

"Well, what would you say?" he asked taking his siblings by surprise with the question.

"I…..I don't really know." Temari said softly as she thought to herself. Through the years they had obeyed their father with unquestioning conviction doing his will as he demanded. How would he react with their sudden rebellion?

"I think it would be something along the lines of 'we can't do the task because of'…'Huh? This is tougher than I thought." Kankuro said under the withering looks of his siblings. "What?" Gaara looked down in thought.

'Shukakau, what do you think?' He asked the unusually silent demon in his head.

"**Why don't you just come clean about not wanting to do it? You don't have to go into detail about why…use me as your reason. Say: 'I don't want to use my abilities to harm people. I want to protect, not only the people of my village, but others as well. I refuse to be the monster you created.' Try that."**

"Very well said…I'm kind of surprised actually."

"Surprised at what Gaara?" Temari asked looking over at him as they walked. "Kankuro's idea? Because to be honest it wasn't really that good…"

"Hey!"

"No not that…Shukaku had an idea." Kankuro gave his sister a glance.

"So…uh, what did it say?" She asked hesitantly, slightly anxious for the response.

"**IT? Excuse me? I'm an it now?" **She snapped.

"She. Shukaku's a she Temari. And she thinks that I should come somewhat clean about why I won't go along with the plan. She said that I should tell him that I don't want to hurt people now…I want to protect them…and that I'm not the monster he created anymore."

"Oh! Well that's better than what I thought she would have said…no offense of course!" Kankuro nodded at his sister's statement.

"Yeah, that's actually perfect. All you'd have to do is come up with whatever he throws at you."

"Yeah." Gaara said quietly. 'I have a feeling that this is going to be more difficult than I've anticipated.'

The siblings continued walking until they reached the boarder of the land of fire; there Gaara stopped them as he looked around the area. The boarder had scarce amounts of trees, and the dirt was smoother, more sand like, though still not as fine as the sand found in the desert.

"Here will do. Just stand there and trust me. That is all you have to do." They both nodded and did as their youngest brother instructed. Gaara clasped his hands together as the sand began to swirl around the group. Kankuro nervously shifted as the sand began spinning more and more violently with each passing rotation. It was as if they were trapped in a sand storm. Slowly the sand began to die down as Temari and Kankuro stared in surprise. The village of Suna now lay before them as the moonlight bathed the village in a pale silver light. Temari stared in awe at the sight, but Gaara simply walked away though the sight had somehow lost its beauty.

"I'll be going to see the Kazekage in the morning. If you truly wish to come be up early." Gaara said walking towards the village. His siblings stared after him before running to catch up.

"Where are you going Gaara?" The red head turned to face his brother with curiosity.

"Why?" he asked simply hoping he didn't come off as rude or bothered by the question. The older boy looked as though the question should be completely obvious.

"Well, home is that way." Kankuro said lamely pointing in the opposite direction. This surprised the jinchuriki. Were they really concerned for him? Why else would they be worried about him not going 'home'?

"Yeah Otouto-chan, If you're going to have this meeting you should at least rest up. It will probably be very draining on you. Mentally, emotionally, and physically if he tries anything. We just want you to be prepared for anything that could happen. We should all be prepared." Temari said firmly as she looked at her two brothers. Gaara looked unsure. He had never truly felt as if the Kazekage's mansion was ever his home, even in his early youth it felt like a prison. But perhaps now that he had his siblings maybe that decrepit building could become more? Mentally sighing Gaara began walking towards the Kazekage mansion.

"You don't see that place as home either do you Gaara?" Kankuro asked hanging back as Temari lead the way. The red head simply shook his head.

"You?" Kankuro scoffed.

"Barely…I've spent more nights at Baki's than here lately. Temari…I don't think she sees this place as home either; i mean have you seen her room? There's nothing in there but a bed and her weapons, no creature comforts, well except for that photo she has." Gaara was curious he had never been in either of his siblings rooms. His was bare and empty as it was rarely used but he never thought about Temari's or Kankuro's. They neared the mansion and Gaara felt a hesitant tug at the back of his mind. This place still felt like a curse to him, but with his siblings, perhaps it could become more…if he let it. Though they were capable of living alone with possible death looming over their heads, living together brought an air of safety to the two oldest Sabaku children.

"What are you waiting for Gaara?" Temari asked as she watched her youngest sibling stare at the kazekage's mansion. Shaking his head he looked towards his sister.

"It's nothing." He said simply. Gaara couldn't help but feel that the shadows were crawling tonight. Walking into the house the three made their ways to their own separate rooms. Gaara stared at the door before pushing it open. His room was as he last left it, and it hadn't been used in years. There was a thick layer of dust on the bed and floor, only a small pathway from the closet and the door had been paved through the dust in the search of clothes.

"**Your room's a mess…"**

"Wow, thanks for the input it's so appreciated."

"Your rooms a bit dusty huh?" A voice said over his shoulder. Gaara didn't have to look to know it was his sister.

"Want some help clearing it up?"

"Sure." Temari smiled as she walked past her brother and pushed the windows open.

"Go to my room, once you open the door look to the left, there will be a broom you can use for the floor." She said as she started pulling the bedding from his un used bed. Gaara nodded and walked to the other side of the mansion to his sister's room. Upon finding said object he turned to leave before pausing as kankuro's words from only minutes before came to his mind. He opened the door once again, the room resembled his with only a desk placed in the corner, her weapons he noticed were located near the door. Gaara's eyes lingered on a photograph on her desk, reaching out he turned it over to look at it as his eyes went wide. It was a photo of the siblings taken many many years ago, Gaara easily recognized himself in the picture because he was the only child with red hair. He couldn't have been a year old, but he smiled up at his big sister like she was his world. Temari sat in the middle beaming as she held her youngest brother close in her lap, and draped across her shoulders was Kankuro smiling as well. Gaara turned abruptly remembering that the very same girl smiling in the picture was expecting him to return any moment. Gaara jumped in surprise as the door opened, placing the picture down where he found it the redhead spun around quickly.

"Oh, you saw that huh?" Temari said with a sad smile. The red head simply looked down in embarassment.

"I apologize, I shouldn't have-"

"What are you apologizing for? It's not like you were going through my stuff. That was left out on top of the desk so it's no surprise that it attracts curious eyes. 'Cmon, we need to sweep that floor of yours." Temari said as she took the broom from his hand and walked from the room quickly, not even looking back to see if her brother was following her. Temari hurried down the hall as tears burned in her eyes.

'What is this, embarrassment? What the hell is there to be embarrassed over it's just a picture!' Temari thought angrily as she wiped her eyes.

"Where have you been?" The blonde froze in place stopping just shy of her father. How had she not noticed him?

"I-I was- we just-" Averting her eyes, Temari looked away from her father.

"Enough of your babbling, now answer me where were you?" The Kazekage growled as a menacing air surrounded them. Nervousness was never something Temari usually succumbed to, but feeling her father's wrath when it was solely directed at her was an overwhelming feeling. She flinched as he face was roughly grabbed and jerked upwards to face him. If what just happened surprised her, Temari didn't show it, but what happened next made her squeak in shock. An arm of sand wrapped itself around her and pulled the girl from her father's grasp. Gaara stepped from the shadows as Temari was placed gently behind him.

"You." The Kazekage growled angrily. Gaara glared back at the man he once called father.

"Me." He said simply. Temari stared in surprise, right now she didn't know what to make of the situation she was in.

"Gaara?" she asked softly. The red head didn't even turn around.

"You left your window open Temari. You should go close it." The jinchuriki said firmly as the sand released her and recollected by his feet. The tension in the air was obvious as Temari nodded her head.

"Thank you, I'll go take care of that now." She said as she turned on the spot and hurried down the hall. Rounding the corner Kankuro pulled his sister into the hall as she passed by.

"What is going on Tem?" Temari shook her head as she stared at her oldest little brother. So much so did he resemble their father. The war paint was washed off and for the first time in a long time Temari actually took in the features of her brother's face. Brown hair, like their father's, dark eyes, like their father's, nose shape, cheek bones, and jaw line, all of it belonged to their father. The resemblance was frightening; Kankuro could be his clone for all they knew.

'No. That's a stupid thought Kankuro could never be that cold, not like him.'

"Temari?" The blonde shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"The Kazekage's angry. Apparently he actually decided to be bothered that we were gone for once." Gaara's wave of killer intent could be felt from the other side of the house, Kankuro shivered as he felt the temperature drop.

"I don't know what's going on but I'm going to end it." The puppet ninja said as he walked down the hall. As Kankuro neared he felt the crunch of sand beneath his feet, and as he glanced down he noticed that it had an unusual gleam to it almost as if it were made of gold.

"You think you can simply back out of the plan without there being repercussions?"

"There's nothing you can do to me that you haven't already done or tried to do." Gaara said simply as he stood there arms crossed. There was something off about their father that night. Yes he was cold and mean as usual, but never had he had such an edge to his voice when he talked to his older sister, never at least in front of him. Yes, something was definitely unusual with him.

"Nothing to you maybe, but not to-"

"What in the world is going on here?" Kankuro said as he made his presence known in the hall way.

"Kankuro, your brother and I were just having a conversation about his vital importance on your current mission." The clipped tone of voice was gone when the Kazekage spoke to his eldest son, but as he turned to face the jinchuriki it was replaced with a pseudo-threatening tone. "Right?" Gaara now glared at the man. He had been around the Kazekage more than he'd liked to have been when he was younger, but being in his presence made him pick up on how he acted around others. Though he had taken little intrest back then, Gaara knew how he talked to his children. He decided to play along for now as he nodded to the Kazekage.

"Good, now I'll be preparing for my journey to the hidden leaf. Do not disappoint me." His robes fluttered as he whirled around and stalked down the hall, leaving Gaara and Kankuro alone in the darkness. The red head gestured for his brother to follow him as he made his way down the opposite direction of the hallway. Once they were all joined in Gaara's room which was the furthest room from the kazekage's, Kankuro spoke up.

"What the heck is going on? He was acting weird tonight." Temari nodded in agreement. Sure she had gotten punished by their father in the past, after all she had the scars to prove it, but the look in their father's eyes frightened her.

"I don't know…I never thought it would be so difficult to stand up to him…He had the scariest look in his eyes, I just froze up."

Gaara who had been slient for the past half hour finally spoke up.

"Isn't it obvious? That was not the Kazekage." Gaara's words hung in a stunned silence before Kankuro again resoponded.

"What do you mean that wasn't our father? Of all people we'd recognize a fake." Temari's gaze switched in between her brothers before landing on the window.

"Would we? Think about it Kankuro our dad isn't really the fathering type. He was always focused on the welfare of the village instead of us. The only one who would truly know is one who's been stuck with him for hours and hours on end." She said now looking at their youngest sibling. "Of all of us, Gaara would know, but how could you tell?" The two oldest gave the jinchuriki their undivided attention.

"First was with you Temari. I have never seen our father handle you as he did especially in view of others. I know he does not treat you well and when he does something, it is out of view of prying eyes." Temari nodded angry with herself, she should have recognized that. Kankuro looked at his sister with confusion, but before he could speak Gaara continued.

"Second was the tone of voice in which he spoke. Normally he is cold, even regarding matters of his family, but tonight he seemed especially angry that we had been up and wandering the mansion." Now Gaara turned to face solely Kankuro. "When have you ever heard that man speak to me in a threatening tone?"

"He hasn't."

Gaara nodded in affirmation. "And more importantly than anything else so far, He has yet to notice our behavior towards each other. Which means…" The two oldest Sabaku children stared in shock before Temari answered.

"Whoever's impersonating the Kazekage thinks that we've always been close and doesn't know this is a new thing."

"Exactly, and with the Kazekage's keen intellect and acute sense of detail, this is something he would have immediately noticed."

"So what do we do now? It's obvious that the kazekage's a fraud but-"

"It's obvious to us Tem, but how long has he been like this? And what happened to our father?"

"We'll have to assume for now that he's dead. But more importantly we can't let on that we're aware of the switch." Gaara said as he leaned against the wall. The moonlight shining through the window lit up his shadowy features.

"What? What do you mean we can't let on? Whoever this guy is he's dangerous, if he could kill our father he could take down our entire village from the inside out! We have to do something."

"Do what Temari?" Gaara asked as his sea green eyes flashed in the moonlight. "The fourth Kazekage is the most distant closed off protector our village has ever had. To the villagers his actions will be perceived as normal, as he will probably stay cooped up in the office until he leaves for Konoha. To the shinobi his actions will still be normal because of the curtain in his office. Do you notice that the only people he allows to look at him is the jonin of the council and us only because we live with him? Who will believe three genin? I think the best solution may be to alert Konoha of Suna's soon to be betrayal, and let them know about the plans for the invasion." Kankuro and Temari stared at their brother in horror.

"And betray our village? Gaara, no…we can't do that!"

"Kankuro, Gaara's right." Temari said as she closed her eyes in thought.

"What? You too Temari! We as Sunagakure shinobi are bound to follow our village's law. The invasion of Konoha was our father's idea. He is the Kazekage so his word is law."

"How do we know that the man who came up with that plan even was our father? We don't, so everything he's ordered in the last month should have no sway over our actions. I know that you don't want to betray our village Kankuro, and it's honorable, but what would be better, tell me? Informing Konoha, avoiding war and keeping the shinobi we possess? Or going into war, losing money funds and our shinobi? Just because it was father's idea does not guarantee Suna's success. We need to inform the hidden leaf village." Kankuro stared down at the ground.

"You're right. Both of you are right. As much as I don't want to betray our father, his word can no longer be trusted. We do have to inform the leaf's kage. We have to let him know of the imposter's intentions."

"Then it's settled then." Temari said with a nod as she stood, watching as her brothers rose with her. "We're going back to Konoha." Gaara nodded as he began walking from the room.

"Gaara where are you going, we can't go now, we only returned hours ago, we should leave after an evening's rest." Kankuro said eying his little brother.

"I agree with you, but I'm not leaving, It would be wise to send a letter to the Hokage informing him of our arrival before we just barge in there, then they'd think were crazy. We have to go through this logically. We'll play along on both sides doing whatever the Hokage wishes for now, but we'll still stay loyal to our village, just not the imposter running it." With that Gaara left the room leaving his siblings in an enlightened silence.

"**So, what's the plan Hmm?" **Shukaku asked sweetly waiting for a response which she knew wouldn't come. Gaara was thinking, thinking of a way to solve the mess his father threw him and his siblings into. Would the result lead to peace and stability between the villages? Would they be kicked out of the village? As these thoughts crossed his mind, Gaara made his way up the stairs to the falconry opening the door and startling the man behind the desk.

"Can I-I Help you sir?" Gaara simply stared impassively at the man before responding.

"I need the fastest falcon available, one that can get to Konoha."

"Yes, I'll be right back." The man said quickly before hurrying out of the room.

Gaara stared at the letter scroll in his hands, hoping that what they were about to do was the right thing.

The man returned with a brown and golden colored falcon with a pouch on its back.

"This is Kamikaze(divine wind) He is the fastest we have." Gaara nodded looking at the birds intelligent yellow eyes, slipping the scroll into the pouch he watched as the messenger brought the bird to the window and released it to the night sky.

**Gonna update soon, I promise! Thanks for the reads and reviews! ^_^**


	19. Chunin exams 3 of 3

A Tough Life

Chapter 19

Chunin exams 3 of 3

The Suna trio sat in the Hokage's office surrounded by Anbu and facing the sandime Hokage himself.

"And on what grounds should I believe that this is not part of the plan its self?" The elderly man asked taking a deep draw from his pipe as he stared at the Suna genin. "I know nothing about you aside from the fact that you're Genin from another village who is deemed our ally." Temari stepped forward, glaring at the Anbu in particular who had taken her fan from her before turning to properly face the Hokage.

"Lord Hokage we are not just mere genin from Suna. Our father is the Kazekage. He's been having monthly meetings with the leader of sound, a man named Orochimaru." The name stirred the ninja in the room and immediately Temari stepped back to be with her brothers, she felt safer near them, for they all were truly at the leaf's mercy.

"Are you sure? Have you seen this man with your own two eyes? Any of you?"

All three stepped forward.

"Hai." They chorused at the same time, but Gaara was the only one to continue speaking.

"The Kazekage was never much of a father figure, he put work before his family's safety and as a child I was with him more than either of my siblings had been. I recognized the man acting as Kazekage as an imposter based on his actions earlier this evening. The three of us as siblings have never been close, they feared me for what I am being a jinchiruki, and the Kazekage encouraged their fear of me." Although the group once again began to break out in whispers, Gaara continued. "During my time in Konoha I have met people who were able to help me with my seal making the one tail more manageable. Because of that, and because of them My teammates and I have gained a closer bond. One our father knew nothing of. However a few hours ago when seeing us together the man seemed to almost expect it. He's nothing but an imposter, our villagers and shinobi are important to us, and people here have become important to me. I do not wish to see them hurt."

"**So what's the plan after this? You really think that they'll just let you go? What happens if they don't believe you? Will you simply disappear into the night if they let you? Or are you going to go and protect that girl you love?" **Shukaku asked slyly smirking as she felt Gaara's surprise.

'Love? I don't love her, she's very helpful, and she's a very good friend… that's all.'

**Yet you want to protect not only her, but her village as well. You've got it bad 'Gaara-kun' , but it's alright, she does seem like she'd make a good mate…**

'You're back on this again! She's not my mate!' Gaara mentally growled. Why now of all times did Shukaku find it impertinent to nag at him about this? Why now?

"The words you speak hold grave consequences should they be true." The Hokage said softly looking at the Sabaku siblings. Now he addressed the Anbu in his office.

"Send word to the Jonin, and special Jonin. I'm going to address this to them first thing tomorrow morning, but for now please bring me Shikaku Nara, and Inoichi Yamanaka." With a wave of his hand the Anbu were off, leaving the Hokage and the three Suna genin alone in the office.

"Not to sound nosey or anything lord Hokage, but what do you need the deer guy for?" Temari asked, at the moment she could care less how childish the question sounded. The third Hokage laughed.

"And tell me young lady, how do you know Nara-san?" Temari looked at the Hokage in surprise, she had honestly expected to be ignored or yelled at or something, but the guy was actually laughing? She sat up in her chair and re crossed her legs.

"Well, his son's my opponent in the upcoming exams, so I thought I'd follow him to learn more about him…" Temari told the old man and her brothers the story about feeding the deer and being roped against her will into being fed by Shikaku's pushy loud, but caring wife. …"And after she fed me against my will, I was free to go." Again the Hokage was laughing good naturedly.

"That sounds very much like Yoshino Nara." He said with a smile. Moments later both Inoichi and Shikaku entered the Hokage's office. They both bowed, but it was the blonde who spoke first.

"What can I do to be of assistance Lord Hokage?" The brunette nodded his head as well.

"Nara-san, Yamanaka-san, thank you for coming here at such an unusual hour first of all. These three…" he said gesturing to the now seated Suna genin in front of him. "Bring word that the Kazekage has been killed and replaced with an imposter, and also that Sand has joined forces with Oto(sound) Who is being run by Orochimaru and that there has been a plot to rise up against Konoha in a planned invasion. I would like you to verify this Inoichi. Shikaku, If this has proven to be true, Yamanaka-san will give you the information on the plan and I'd like for you to come up with a counter measure." The two men nodded and the blonde walked in front of the Sabaku siblings, stopping at Temari first who was sitting on the far right.

"I'm going to enter your psyche, do not resist me, I'm only looking for the information on the Suna Oto invasion should it exist." Temari nodded and relaxed her mind. It had to be the strangest sensation, it was as if somebody had taken ice cold water and dumped it on her head. She could see the flashes of information he sorted through pop through her mind one by one, finally the memories of the invasion planning popped up first a memory of listening by a door, then a memory of being told by Baki, then another there they were being shown the plan of the invasion, but the memory that played the longest was when the girl first ran into Orochimaru walking from her father's home office. She had simply been passing by right as the door opened, but when she made eye contact she could barely move, her heart raced and for the first time in a long long time, Temari felt incredibly weak as her hands trembled. The girl could barely breathe. Had it not been for her father exiting the room Temari was sure he would probably killed her.

The memory suddenly ended and when Temari opened her eyes, the blonde man from before now pushed himself up from the wall as Gaara's sand flowed back to him, anger clear in his eyes.

"Temari, are you ok?" He asked still glaring daggers at the man much to Temari's confusion.

"Yes, why? What happened?" The boys shared a look and this time Kankuro spoke.

"We should be asking you that. You got really pale and started shaking. What happened?" Temari looked to the ground for a moment to collect herself, then she looked to her youngest brother.

"When he looks through your memories you watch them and it's like being there all over again, so do not use your sand on him again." She said, the last part in an especially firm voice not wanting them to get into more trouble. "I'm fine, we just watched my first encounter with that snake bastard." Kankuro nodded, remembering that he too was particularly rattled from his first encounter with the snake Sannin. The blonde man now walked up to Kankuro repeating the procedure as he scanned the boy's memories, and after fifteen minutes or so, he moved on to Gaara much to the red haired boy's hesitation.

"Inoichi, before you start the process on that boy, I ask you to recall what happened when you tried this process with Uzumaki-kun." The third said cryptically, but the blonde understood.

"So he's a-?"

"Yes, be careful." With a nod the blonde dove into the boy's mind trying to access his memories.

"**What the hell are you doing in here? This is my home."** Shukaku growled at the blonde in a low dangerous voice, but before the man could respond he could hear Gaara's voice as well.

'Will you calm down? He's helping us prove a point so be nice.' The boy said simply.

"**I'm always nice!"**

"Riiiight and I'm normal.' Gaara snipped back. Inoichi continued to search the boy's vast mind looking for the memories, but what he did not expect was to find himself in a desert in front of a large golden gate that reached into the sky.

"**Everything you're looking for I have." Shukaku said simply while she sat in her human form examining her long sharp nails as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.**

"You're his demon?" The Yamanaka asked looking warily at the female form.

"**Yes, I find this form to be more pleasing to the eye." **The Demoness said as she casted her golden eyes in his direction taking in the man's appearance. **"Wouldn't you think so? That is unless you prefer the sight of a beast, then of course that would affect my host, and neither of us wants that do we."** Shukaku said with a smile revealing her sharp teeth. Inoichi didn't answer much to Shukaku's annoyance.

'You're supposed to be giving him the memories, not flirting with him inside my head!' Gaara said in annoyance, his voice echoing across the mental desert.

"**Buzz kill! Meh, he's no fun, and you're not much fun either!"** She growled pointing to the blonde across from her before sighing.

"**Fine, I'll give you the memories…but you'll have to come **_**a lot **_**closer than you are now. Come on little bunny don't be shy, I'm not going to eat you tonight."** The demoness cooed as she placed her arms on the bars of the golden barrier as she motioned him forward with her finger. Slowly Inoichi moved close to the locked up demon, however he kept an arms-length away from her at all times.

'Shukaku…' Gaara said warningly. Now however he was starting to annoy the Ichibi.

"**Do you forget who the boss of this relationship is? You really think this flimsy thing can hold me back? This is the first Human I've seen in years, and If I want to toy with him then I will! Now listen to your mother and butt out!" **Shukaku snarled. Inoichi watched as golden chakra filled the mindscape and the demon began to change shape letting out a loud screeching roar of frustrated anger. Inoichi was roughly grabbed and pulled away from the bars.

"Get out of my head now." Gaara said not even facing the man as he walked over to the beast that was roaring as it thrashed against the bars. As Inoichi opened his own eyes he could see the red headed boy clenching his head in pain as he moved into an empty corner of the office. The rest of the group was on the other side of the room.

'What the hell!' Gaara snapped glaring at the sand raccoon.

"**You pissed me off!"**

'You promised to behave, they're trying to help us and all you're doing is causing trouble right now. You need to calm down.' The rampaging demon took her anger out on the golden bars, leaving not a scratch on them as she slowly turned back to her human form. She sat on the ground with a huff and crossed her arms, looking quite like a child.

"**I'm sorry, I'll behave."**

'Thank you…now I have to go see the damage to the outside world.' The boy said with a sigh. Blinking a few times the Hokage's office slowly came into view and the red head found himself in an isolated corner, the rest of the group staring at him. He honestly felt exhausted and his head was throbbing, but apparently the meeting was going to continue until they had everything they needed. Slowly Gaara walked over to the group and sat back down on the chair.

"We're all set, but it's probably not the best idea to try that again."

"Yes." Inoichi agreed "That would probably be for the best, besides I have information from these two already. Where are we going to put them for now Hokage-sama?"

"Can we stay with Kaji and Koori? I don't think they'd mind our being there." Temari asked as the other two nodded.

"As long as you three do not leave Konoha, I don't mind where you stay, be it the temporary Suna dwelling, or elsewhere. You will have Anbu trackers though, that much must be done. You may leave now, If you are needed you will be brought to my office." Sarutobi said as he waved them off He had already been informed of Gaara's situation by Kaji, and Yomi the Anbu named panther, so he knew they cared some degree for the boy, so if they wanted to stay with them, he didn't mind at all.

The Sabaku trio walked the streets of Konoha heading towards the large familiar house, however instead of knocking on the door at this time of night, they just entered through the window on the top floor, all three of them. Gaara grabbed pillows and blankets, handing them to his brother, then grabbed some for himself as he settled near the long window bench. The two oldest watched as Gaara tossed the pillow to the ground, lay down and in moments had fallen asleep. Temari smiled as she settled on the bed, pulling the covers over her head in the darkness she snuggled into the pillow. Kankuro followed suit with his brother tossing the blanket and pillow on to the ground before he too closed his eyes for the night.

It was a normal morning for Nia when she woke up, she yawned, stretching and got dressed. Her team had the day off today because their sensei was giving her brother a crash course in Inuzuka boot camp training because he failed to make it into the Chunin finals. As she ran down stairs to help her aunt, she was given a box to bring to the attic, and without question she brought the box up the stairs, but when she opened the door the girl was stunned to find three people asleep in the supposed to be empty room. Luckily she recognized them before panic could fill her, and instead of freaking out she smiled as she noticed the red haired boy sleeping on the floor near the window. Placing the box on the shelf she walked over to the windows silently and pulled the curtains shut tight darkening the room. They had left for Suna the night before last, and if they were back already and so unexpectedly then something important must have happened. With that thought, Nia let the trio sleep, closing the door softly behind her. Making her way down stairs the girl decided that she'd help her aunt make some medicinal concoctions today with the herbs while she waited for her friends to wake up.

Gaara opened his eyes as he looked around the room, this sleeping thing was nice, and with that thought in mind he stuck his head back into the pillow…five more minutes wouldn't hurt. Temari and Kankuro had long since woken and made the family aware of their presence, the blonde was shocked to learn that they had slept in until 10:30. Usually they were up with the rising sun, but not today. Now it was nearing noon time and there was still no sign of Gaara. Koori had made lunch for everybody and sent Nia upstairs to wake the red headed boy. Koori didn't mind if he slept, she just wanted to make sure he had something to eat before the day ended.

As the brunette opened the door to the attic she stared in shock, watching as Gaara's sand dragged over the pillows and blankets from the bed. She tried so hard not to laugh, and to her joy, she succeeded. Nia walked over and made her way through the blanket and pillow fort that Gaara had unconsciously made and found the red head himself holding tightly to a pillow he was resting his head on. Crouching down she gently began rubbing his head.

"Mmmmmmm." He buried his head further into the pillow, much to the girl's amusement.

"It's time to get up Gaara-kun." Nia said as she opened the curtains.

"Mmmf." The sand pulled his blanket over his head.

"Come on Gaara-kun, wakey wakey, it's already lunchtime, you're going to sleep the day away." Now the girl laughed as she tugged one of the many pillows away from him, only for the boy to reach out his arm and pull it back holding on with an iron grip.

"Noooo."

"Come on Gaara, now you're just being ridiculous!" Nia said as his sand made a dome over him keeping all the pillows and blankets inside with him.

"Mmm…. Five more minutes…." With a sigh she walked from the attic and went down stairs. Ignoring the questioning looks from the group at the table she dug under the kitchen cabinets until she found what she was looking for. Grabbing the bucket, Nia filled it half way and carried it upstairs, that action alone made the whole table run after her just to see the outcome.

"Gaara-kun, you've had your five minutes now, if you don't get up I'm going to dump this bucket of water on you." The girl said in a firm voice jiggling the bucket making the water splash around for emphasis. At these words the sand dome collapsed and a solitary sea foam colored eye could be seen in between the pillows.

"You wouldn't dare." Nia dipped her hand in the bucket and flicked him with the water.

"Try me." She said with a smirk.

"Fine I'm getting up…." Gaara said under the fluffy mass. The group watched waiting for him to move and much to their surprise they could once again hear only silence. Nia moved the pillow to find Gaara asleep once again snoring softly. Bucket in hand she tilted it so it began to steadily drip…nothing. She tilted it a bit more, now it was a gentle stream, this got a small reaction…but Nia didn't exactly want to soak the blankets either…placing the bucket down she cupped water in her hands and dropped it on the sleeping boy's face earning the reaction she wanted. Gaara bolted up now wide awake and looked around at all the laughing people, as he tried to move he stumbled over the huge fort his sand had created as he slept.

"Welcome back sleepy head! Lunch is ready!" The small brunette said with a smile. "Come on, you can sleep later." She said pulling the red head up and dragging him down the stairs.

Gaara sat at the table awake, yawning frequently as he stared at the plate of food in front of him. Why koori needed to give him such copious amounts of food still eluded him. Yes, he enjoyed the rather large sandwich, and tried his best to finish it hoping to avoid the guilty feeling that would grow when he still had food on his plate. Kankuro made a joke at the table which earned laughter from the group, Temari seemed truly relaxed as she talked to koori, and it was then that Gaara realized that he enjoyed these small moments in Konoha, they as a family, were slowly coming together.

The time until the chunin exam drew closer and closer, and Gaara felt himself become restless as his mind was plagued with questions as that day finally arrived.

'What if we forgot something? What happens if they figure out the plan? What if something happens that I can't control? What if she gets hurt? What if Shukaku takes over?' So many 'what if's'.

"Is something wrong Gaara-kun?" Nia asked softly as they walked to the stadium. The red head simply shook his head as he glared at the ground.

"No, I'm fine." Nia wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, you definitely look 'fine', what's wrong? Are you nervous about your match against Sasuke?" Gaara took a glance at the girl when he finally realized something. Nia didn't know about the upcoming invasion plan. To her, this was just going to be some normal day, not a day that might change their lives forever.

"No, I'm not worried about fighting Uchiha, but I have a feeling that something bad might happen."

'**Ooh, a feeling Gaara-kun? Why not just tell her the truth?'**

'If I do that then she'd be ready for the sleeping jutsu and she might get hurt if those sound ninja get in.'

'**Fine, say it how you want hell, why not just send her home?' **Shukaku asked, her words sugar coated with sarcasm as Gaara rolled his eyes.

'Like hell she'd just leave…'

"Gaara-kun!" The boy snapped from his thoughts as he looked over at the brown haired girl next to him. "Welcome back, I've been calling you for minutes now…What do you mean that you think something bad might happen? What's the worst that could happen, you losing your match?" Gaara shook his head.

'No, you getting hurt… you're my friend, my only friend….'

"It's nothing, really Nia. Just…watch yourself. If something does happen, I'll protect you, I promise." Nia smiled at the boy as they entered the stadium. He watched as she climbed the stairs to the seats after wishing him luck.

"**Don't worry your little red head, there's nothing to worry about as long as you've got me."** Shukaku said, but the bad feeling in Gaara's stomach only increased.

'_You're_ what I'm worried about.' He thought softly to himself as he walked out on to the arena, joining his siblings and the rest of the competitors. A quick glance at the lineup told Gaara that his opponent had yet to arrive. Showing no outward sign of caring, Gaara simply stood in line as the exams officially began.

The battle between that blonde Naruto, and the Hyuga prodigy was an intense one, and had a surprising turn out for a winner. As the blonde pumped his arms in victory and ran from the arena, earning the audiences applause, the next two finalists were called out. This was supposed to be Gaara's match, but the Uchiha had yet to arrive…the officials decided to post pone the match. Next was Kankuro verses Aburame Shino. The puppet master immediately withdrew from the match, much to the surprise of many. Growling in annoyance, Temari leapt from the balcony using the air currents and her fan to slow her descent. It took a moment but her opponent the shadow wielding Nara finally appeared, landing all but gracefully on the arena floor. The match was the longest, and Gaara watched with intrigue as Temari was bested by her opponent several times before she was finally caught in his shadow. The biggest surprise came when Shikamaru forfeited, making Temari the victor of the match. Confused, and annoyed Temari made her way back to where her siblings and sensei were.

"You three be ready if the Uchiha arrives, this match is it." Baki said quietly as he stared ahead. Gaara made his way to the arena below and waited. Just before the proctors were about to call the match, Sasuke and his sensei Kakashi arrived in a swirl of leaves in the middle of the stadium. Gaara glared at the Uchiha, remembering to stay in 'character' for the eyes of the Suna shinobi, if Baki could tell that something was different about Gaara it could blow the whole plan apart.

Nia sat with her teammates as she leaned against the barrier watching intently the fights below. Naruto's had been amazing, she was surprised when Gaara's had been pushed off because his opponent was late, was that Sasuke boy really _that _special? She was surprised when Gaara's brother immediately called it quits before even starting. Temari's fight, though long had been very enjoyable. Both were quite tactical, but it seemed that Shikamaru was thinking several steps ahead of the blonde. Her jaw dropped when Shikamaru quit after having such a large advantage, why he'd done that she'd never know. Now as Sasuke arrived with the 'cool dramatic entrance' because apparently he was oh so special, Nia watched as he and Gaara stood in the center of the field staring down each other. Suddenly the level of killer intent spiked tremendously making many shiver. Even Nia felt the tingle down her spine.

'Gaara, please be ok…'

Sand burst from the red head's gourd as Sasuke jumped back throwing several shuriken. Nia stared as Gaara simply stood there. The sand burst up, protecting Gaara from the shurikens impact and morphed into a sand clone. As Sasuke charged forward, the sand rushed at him making the raven haired boy jump out of the way to avoid being pummeled.

Nia breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed that she was worried for nothing, the sand truly did protect Gaara from all. That feeling of relief didn't last as she watched the Uchiha dash with incredible speed, fake a punch and catch Gaara by surprise, sending him flying several feet. Gasping, Nia leaned over the rail watching intently.

Gaara was crouched on the ground as he felt his sand armor slowly crumble where he was punched. Sasuke had gotten much faster in the past month, and his speed rivaled his opponent's in the semi-finals. His sand was too slow, and as it rose to block another hit in front of him, Gaara was suddenly kicked from behind.

Temari and Kankuro watched in horror as their brother took hit after hit. After a kick to the jaw, his sand formed a protective dome around him, and as Sasuke ran over attempting to punch his way through, he was met with sand spikes, slicing his cheek, arm, and leg in several places. Glaring at the solid sand casing, Sasuke jumped, and using his chakra stuck to the wall as he began concentrating his chakra in his left arm.

"Wow, that sand sure seems useful, eh Nia?" Ai said nudging her friend. Nia however stared intently down below, but the sound of chirping brought her back to the conversation.

"Ai, what's that sound?" Nia asked, glancing at the Aburame and her sensei who's eyes were wide in shock.

"He didn't!" Hana said quietly.

"Didn't what sensei?" Their sensei turned to the two girls. "That's Kakashi's student, and what he's using is Kakashi's technique, I never thought he'd teach it to that boy." The sound of her sensei's voice worried Nia.

"Hana-sensei, what technique is it?" Nia asked worriedly.

"It's called Chidori: 1000 birds. It's a very powerful technique that- He's using it!" the Inuzuka said pointing to the arena below. They watched as Sasuke ran down the wall gathering speed as his arm literally crackled with chakra. As he crashed his arm through the sand dome, the arena was dead silent. The Sabaku siblings watched in shock and Nia sat on the edge of her seat with baited breath staring nervously down below. Then the scream of pain could be heard from the sand dome.

"It can't be!" Temari said in shock As Kankuro stared wide eyed.

"Gaara!" Nia screamed as she held on to the railing tightly. In Gaara's head Shukaku was on a rampage.

"**He hurt us! Blood, you're bleeding! We're bleeding? Kill him! Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, Kill him, KILL HIM!"**

'NO!' don't come out, you can't take control!' he thought frantically holding his head as his shoulder gushed. Shukaku roared angrily as her chakra pumped through her host. Sand began wrapping around Gaara's arm as Shukaku began taking over, grabbing Uchiha's arm, Shukaku ripped it from Gaara's shoulder, and feeling something clenching tightly to his arm, Sasuke wrenched his arm from the dome, but something else was wrapped around it.

"No, oh no, Gaara…" Nia said softly gripping the railing tightly, her knuckles turning white as she thought back to their walk only a few short weeks ago.

"_Nobody knows what I've done here, my demon the one tailed raccoon Shukaku is what I house. Nia, I'm a jinchuriki, a demon host. Back home in the sand village, I've killed people...innocent people, I've hurt my siblings. When I came here it was the first time that I was ever looked at without fear, here was the first time somebody ever spoke to me without fear of what was inside me."_

'Gaara, what's happening to you? Is your demon trying to take over? Please, please let everything be ok, please!'

The sand dome crumbled revealing a wounded Gaara who was clenching his bleeding shoulder Feathers were everywhere and Nia felt incredibly sleepy.

'Genjutsu? Why?' Forming the necessary hand seals Nia reversed it just in time to watch all hell break loose in the Hokage's box. Suddenly enemy shinobi were everywhere, battling leaf ninja. Feeling a dangerous presence behind her, Nia spun around and leaned back as she raised her arm to block the kunai swiped at her throat. The blade left a deep gash in her forearm, and still trying to avoid the kunai, Nia leaned back farther, only to flip over the railing falling into the stadium as she let out a panicked scream.

Gaara was still fighting to suppress Shukaku when he heard the shriek, whirling around he watched as Nia plummeted to the ground. Shoving Shukaku back as best as he could, and pushing away his siblings, he raced over summoning his sand as he did and caught the falling girl with a cushion of sand before she slammed into the ground. As the sand wrapped around her, keeping her safe, it pulled her back to where Gaara was. Nia looked up at her savior and smiled, but seeing his bleeding shoulder, the smile was lost.

"Gaara, you're hurt!" she said moving towards him, however their jonin sensei jumped In between the girl and his students.

"You three get him out of here now!" Baki said as he brandished his kunai at the girl, the least thing he expected was for Gaara to hit him with his sand, bowling him over.

"Nia, come with us, we have to get Gaara somewhere safe." Temari said as Kankuro slung his brother's uninjured arm across his shoulder and fled from the arena. Nia followed them, she trusted them, and had no idea what was going on.

They ran through the forest, but realized that they were being tailed by Sasuke. Kankuro handed Gaara to Temari and stayed behind to hold the Uchiha off, but it didn't last long as he soon caught up with them. Temari set Gaara down, as Nia tried to heal him away from Temari and Sasuke. Even though his shoulder was healed, it seemed that Shukaku's rage was affecting his mental stability. Gaara clenched his head in pain as Nia crouched next to him trying to help in any way she could, but suddenly she was slammed into a tree by a powerful force, hitting the ground the girl began coughing up blood.

"You damn traitor!" Sasuke hissed as he pulled her roughly from the ground. "You don't go and heal the enemy you stupid girl!" Nia's eyes went wide as sand began to envelope Gaara's body making him look more and more beast like.

"GAARA NO!" She screamed as a sand arm swiped at the boy in front on her knocking him into the trees. Nia collapsed to the ground and watched as sand began to wrap around her, bringing her eye level to the semi morphed jinchuriki. Gaara's eyes were no longer their sea foam green, but were now yellow and black and held a frightening killer intent in them. Nia's brown eyes stared at the yellow ones fearfully.

"**What's so special about **_**you?**_** My host refuses to let me kill you as you one of the very few people he cares about."** Nia stared in shock, this thing was not Gaara, even the voice was different.

"Gaara, please come back. This isn't you, this is not you!"

"**Foolish girl! You fear me? You fear **_**him**_** even after he's forbidden me from flaying you alive and wallowing in your blood? Repulsive human! Insignificant worm, I should kill you here and now!"**

"You're wrong! I do not fear Gaara! I fear for him! How's this going to effect-" Nia was cut off as a Chidori pierced through Shukaku's other arm making the sand beast roar in rage, and Nia scream in fear as Shukaku charged angrily, now holding tightly to the girl with her tail. As time passed, Shukaku grew larger and larger as the demon took more control. Finally, Nia was pulled into the belly of the sand beast, and as she passed through the sand, she landed in a hollow spot in the middle next to an unconscious Gaara. Frantically she scrambled over to the boy as she lifted his upper body onto her lap, holding his head in her arms.

"Gaara, wake up I know you don't want this." She said patting his cheeks. When the boy woke and opened his eyes, they were still Shukaku's, but green was flecking them as he looked curiously at her, his fingertips wiping away the blood from her mouth.

"**T**h**e**y **h**u**r**t **y**o**u**…**…**. **T**h**a**t**'**s **u**n**f**o**r**g**i**v**a**b**l**e!**!" **Gaara said angrily, his voice sounding like a mixture of his and his demon's.

"Gaara, please come back to me, you aren't you right now, Shukaku's taking over." Nia said softly reaching out to touch him, but Gaara's hands wrapped around her wrists gently.

"**T**h**e**y**'**l**l **p**a**y** f**o**r** **w**h**a**t** t**h**e**y **d**i**d** t**o **y**o**u…" He said as the sand enveloped him, pulling him from Shukaku's protective center, leaving Nia trapped inside as she pounded on the sand walls fruitlessly as she called for Gaara to come back. Then she heard a maniacal laugh resonating through to Shukaku's core that chilled her blood.

"**Finally free! And the first thing I see is something I wanna slaughter!" **Shukaku's voice screeched**.**

By now, Naruto had arrived and summoned the chief toad Gamabunta. As the blonde raced towards the once again unconscious red head that hung limply from Shukaku's forehead, the sand bound his arms to keep Naruto from making contact however that never stopped him from head butting the boy awake.

Nia felt the sand collapsing around her as Shukaku disintegrated. And as Shukaku collapsed, the protective center of the demon began filling dangerously fast with sand as it crashed to earth. Nia held her breath as she tried moving under the enormous pressure of all the sand, she could barely move.

Naruto and Gaara glared at each other, as they stood in the canopy of the trees. Just he was about to attack, Shukaku's voice rang clear through Gaara's head.

"**Your mate's trapped under the sand, act quickly or she'll suffocate." **Gaara's eyes went wide, and catching Naruto's fist in his hand he sprinted from the canopy, landing on the forest floor below.

"Nia!" he called loudly as he dug through the sand. Naruto watched as the red head clawed the sand piles frantically.

'Where is she?'

"**Tick tock Gaara-kun, time's running out."**

"NIA! Where are you!" Gaara said, surprised when the orange wearing blonde began helping him dig through the sand.

"**Send your chakra through the sand in pulses, you'll find her faster that way."** Gaara did as the demon instructed and sensed a large mass about thirty feet from him. Scrambling he ran over to the largest part of the sand mountain and began shifting it away.

"Please be ok Nia…" he said quietly as he continued to shift through the sand. He was practically out of chakra, he was exhausted, but he needed to find her. Finally after several long minutes the pair reached her. Gaara pulled her from the pile of sand and held her close as she lay limply in her arms. He didn't know what to do for her, all his life he hurt people, he didn't save them, and now when he needed to, he didn't know what do to.

"Gaara!" The red head turned and faced his sister who was running over, Kankuro following behind.

"Temari do something!" he said looking from his sister to his friend in a panic. Temari leaned over holding on to her wrist and placing a hand on her neck, then she put an ear to her chest.

"Her heart's beating, but she's not breathing."

"We pulled her out of the sand dune!" Naruto said making the two older Sabakus jump. Then Temari blinked.

"Gaara, she probably breathed in the sand! Get the sand out of her lungs and she'll be able to breathe again!" Gaara immediately did as he was told and the group watched as tendrils of sand rose from the girl's throat. Finally she began coughing and gasping for air as the last few grains of sand came from her lungs.

"Nia!"

"Nia-Chan!"

Nia looked around, her vision hazy.

"Gaara-kun? Naruto-kun?" She said hoarsely as she looked around as her vision began sharpening. "Gaara-kun, you came back, I knew you'd come back….I knew it." She said smiling softly as Gaara held her closely.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Nia." He said as his body shook with exhaustion.

"It's ok, you came back remember? That's all that matters."

Sasuke had come and brought Naruto back to the leaf, and with help from Temari, and Kankuro, Gaara and Nia were brought back as well. The sand trio were brought to stand before the Hokage who having used the knowledge given to him survived Orochimaru's attack. As they were sent back with several Suna prisoners, they were promised that their involvement of foiling the Suna/Oto invasion would not be revealed for their safety.

**This is the end of chappy 19! Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for the reviews and for reading! ^_^**


	20. Dreams and wishes

A tough life

Chapter 20

Dreams and wishes

2 years later

Gaara sat alone on the roof of his family's mansion gazing at the moon. So much had happened in that past years, the most major things were Sasuke's abandonment of Konoha and the instilment of Senju Tsunade as fifth Hokage. Naruto had taken that very hard, and it disturbed Gaara that the Uchiha would do something so reckless as to joining the most dangerous of the sannin Orochimaru. After retrieving Tsunade for the third Hokage, Naruto left the village with Jiraiya of the sannin. It seemed that the sannin were taking up pupils, as even Tsunade had students. While Naruto's third teammate Sakura learned under Tsunade, Nia did as well, but the brunette girl didn't stop there, she also worked under Tsunade's apprentice Shizune the poison mistress.

The pair stayed in contact and wrote to each other several times a week, Nia would often talk about her learning's under her two teachers, and on top of all that she was still an active member of team 12.

"Gaara, you up here?"

The red head turned recognizing the voice.

"Temari. What are you doing up so late?" He asked turning his head back to face the stars above, watching as they glistened and gleamed in the inky blue sky.

"I could be asking you the same thing Otouto." She said simply sitting down next to him, but catching the look Gaara gave her Temari smiled. "I couldn't sleep, ok? So I grabbed some water and saw that you weren't in your room, so naturally I came to find you." Gaara nodded at her words, staying quiet. "Their beautiful, the stars…" Again Gaara simply nodded. "Gaara?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you remember that time when you were little and we watched the meteor shower?" Gaara saw his sister's smiling face and couldn't bring himself to shake his head 'no'.

"Yes, all those shooting stars…it was nice." Again Temari smiled.

"I'm glad you remember, I made a wish on as many stars as I could that night...mostly for you, you know." Gaara stared at his sister, often he had questioned the logic of wishing on a falling star, what was the point if it had lost its will to even stay in the sky? He had had this debate with Nia once and her response to that very statement shocked him to say the least.

~~Flashback~~

"_Oh Gaara-kun did you see that?" Nia said happily pointing to the white blurb streaming through the sky. Standing there silently she closed her eyes making Gaara look at her curiously._

"_Nia, what are you doing?" After a moment Nia opened her eyes._

"_I made a wish…you make wishes on shooting stars." She said simply staring at the red head._

"_What point is there in doing that? Why would you entrust your wish, probably something you hold close to your heart, to something that's lost its will to even stay in the sky?" Nia turned to face the red headas she gestured to where the shooting star once was._

"_Gaara, it hasn't lost its will to stay in the sky, it just came closer to us leaving its mark in the sky so we'd know that it was listening to our wishes." She said with her soft smile._

~~End Flashback~~

The two siblings watched as a streak of white dashed across the sky. With a small smile, Gaara closed his eyes. This wish would be for them.

The desert sun was blazing as the wind whipped around dangerously, kicking up sand outside the village gates of Suna.

Gaara stood on top of one of the tallest buildings in Suna and watched as the sand storm barreled towards them at an alarming pace. The citizens of Suna, completely unaware of the pending danger walked around the village like they normally would. Before he could even call out the alarm the raging winds and whipping sand was upon them, quickly over taking the village. The people screamed and scattered, completely unprepared and caught off guard.

A shadow was cast and suddenly the stinging of the sand stopped, as the wind could be heard continuing to blow. Many of the citizens stopped and stared in awe at the red headed boy they feared. Using his control over the sand, he had made a large barrier and was protecting the very people who more than anything wished for the end of his existence.

"Get inside NOW!" he growled, his arms trembling under the strain of the immensely heavy burden. His Chakra was draining quickly as he held back the brunt of the storm, finally he heard the warning bell being rung frantically. Normally it took the village of Suna five minutes to completely evacuate the streets during a sand storm, that's how long he needed to hold the sand back. So hard he'd been trying to prove that he'd changed, and maybe if he could save these people, not for some kind of recognition of heroism, but just recognition in its self then maybe…maybe it would start clearing his path for the future.

It seemed like forever, but finally he counted 300 seconds, exactly five minutes, then his arms gave out as he was blown down the street as he was pummeled with the very sand he held back.

"Somebody help him!"

"No he's a monster!"

"Monsters don't save people! He saved us!" The group was arguing inside the building and didn't notice as a young girl darted out into the storm. Though she was blown mercilessly around, she finally found who she was looking for. Gaara was leaning tiredly against a dumpster, his skin raw from the stinging sands.

"Hey mister, you need to get inside!" The girl said as she began tugging on Gaara's hand, her short dark hair blowing wildly around her. "Come on, you're gonna get hurt! What's the point of saving us if you get hurt? HUH?" As Gaara stood, an air of danger could be felt as he glared at her.

"If I saved you, why are you back out in this storm?"

"To help you! They wanted you to get inside too Mr. Sand guy! Let's go!" The little girl said tugging his hand as she stomped her foot in emphasis. Another gust of wind almost blew the small child away, but Gaara held tightly to her hand.

"Fine, let's go I've got to get you out of this storm _again_ anyways." He said pulling the girl on to his back as he walked into the storm. Using his own sand, he created a shield from the sands from the storm and walked back to where the girl had originally come from. The arguing group silenced immediately when the door opened and the young girl walked in leading Gaara by the hand. They watched as the pair sat down on available chairs, Gaara slumping his head down tiredly on his arms.

"Thank you for saving us Mr. Sand guy!" The girl said brightly, smiling a toothy smile at the red head. The first thing he noticed was the lack of her front teeth and vaguely recalled when he lost his…it scared the heck out of him.

"Gaara, my name's Gaara, not sand guy…" he said with amusement in his voice as he looked at the girl, his head still resting on his arms.

"Ok then mister Gaara ."

"That's better?" he said quietly…. "Just drop the mister part." He said now looking around at the settling villagers.

"Ok then Gaara-san." He nodded, his head still on his arms.

"Why did you do that? You'll always be seen as a monster in this village." A rough voice said angrily. Gaara looked up with empty eyes.

"A monster would have let you die in that storm. I'm not who I used to be." Gaara said quietly as he sat upright in the chair. "I know saying sorry will never take back the things I've done, but I truly am remorseful. I never want to go back to who I used to be."

"Well I accept you Gaara-san. Thank you for saving me twice." The girl said as she held out her hand to him. The villagers watched as he took her hand with surprising gentleness and shook it.

"Thank you for saying that…?"

"Oh! I'm Matsuri."

"Matsuri." Surely if a small girl had nothing to fear from the demon of Suna then neither would the adults, right? A middle aged man walked over to the jinchuriki and held out his hand.

"Thank you, I see very clearly that you're making an honest effort to change." Almost a dozen more people followed the lead of the young girl, and Gaara felt his heart swell. They were actually accepting him, thanking him and accepting him. The red heads throat tightened and his eyes became glassy as he quickly closed them.

"Thank you."

After the sand storm, the story of Gaara and the young girl Matsuri quickly spread around the village. Many of the younger generation in Suna were the first to begin accepting the jinchuriki, and the adults soon realized that if their children weren't being harmed, then perhaps they wouldn't either. Gaara began earning acceptance in the village, and soon earned recognition for protecting the village, villagers and fellow shinobi while out on missions. While some people were still ignorant of Gaara's efforts he soon won over the majority of Suna.

Gaara walked silently on the top of the village's wall as he stared up into the sky. The sun had just set, and the stars were starting to come out. He and Kankuro had just talked about his new found dream…Sabaku no Gaara wished to become the Kazekage of Suna. Although Kankuro was surprised, he supported his brother and said he'd help any way he could to achieve his dream.

"Hey stranger!" A voice called from below making the red head look down. He smiled recognizing the familiar voice. Standing below him on the outer side of the village walls was Nia and her team from Konoha. The group watched as he leapt down, landing on the sand with a crouch.

"Hey! Long time no see Red!" Ai said as she adjusted her jacket as she gave Gaara a slight wave. Raizo simply lifted his hand in the direction of Gaara, nodding his head in greeting.

"You're acting as border patrol Gaara-kun?" Nia asked as the boy nodded his head.

"Yes."

"Good, that makes things a bit easier then." Hana said as she and her ninja hound Mai stood in front of the jinchuriki. "We're here to deliver some papers to the acting leader of your village." Gaara nodded, and motioned for the group to follow him as he walked through the gates of Suna. Once they were led to the Kazekage's old office, Gaara waited outside the door for a certain brunette to exit the room. He didn't have to wait long because in a matter of moments the trio of Genin and Chunin exited the room, leaving their sensei and Baki to talk.

"So what have you been up to lately Gaara?" Nia asked, leading her group from the building as the red head followed her. Before he could answer, Ai let out an exaggerated yawn.

"Sorry about that, I'm beat…I think I'll turn in early. C'mon Raizo, I'll bring you to our temporary lodging." The Aburame girl said pulling the blind Hyuga along with her leaving Gaara and Nia alone in the street.

"Well…that was quite unexpected." Nia said rubbing the back of her head laughing a bit and trying to hide her blush. She hadn't seen Gaara in more than a year and he'd gotten much taller since their last meeting.

"Quite…" he said looking down at her. Nia had gotten a bit taller since he had seen her so long ago, something about her was different though but he couldn't quite put his finger on it though.

"Gaara?"

"Huh? Yes?"

"You're staring." She said simply, her arms folded across her chest.

"Oh, sorry, I kind of spaced out there." He said truthfully. "I know what I want to do now." Nia looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

"I want to be the Kazekage." He said quietly. Nia's eyes widened when she understood.

"You really want to be the Kazekage Gaara-kun?" Nia asked staring at the boy before her. Gaara looked away slightly.

"I know it's a stupid dream but-"

"No! It's not a stupid dream at all! If that's what your dream is then go for it! I'll be with you the whole way! Don't you ever doubt that Gaara-kun, Follow your bliss and hold it true. I'll help you in any way I can." Gaara looked at the girl with a small smile on his face.

"Thank you, that means a lot." Nia walked over and hugged him tightly as she smiled.

"I mean it when I say I'd do anything to help, I hope you know that." She said with a smirk as they walked through the desert village. The setting sun illuminated Suna in a dazzling array of colors, and beautiful hues of orange, yellow, and pink. The walk was quiet, but full of understanding. Gaara had just spoken of his dream, something he rarely spoke of, and Nia had accepted it with promises to help him succeed in any way possible. However, Nia's thoughts troubled her.

'Everybody's getting so much stronger, I want to keep my precious people safe but I'm not exactly the strongest person around, nor the smartest… My medicinal jutsu is getting much better, so is my ability to create poisons and anti-poisons because of Shizune-sempai. I know I can become stronger…I'll become a stronger person just like Gaara-kun! I swear it! I'll become someone worthy to be your friend Gaara-kun and someone worthy to fight by your side!' However the girl still had doubts.

"Gaara-kun?" The red head didn't speak, but glanced over giving Nia his attention. "Do you think I'm getting stronger?" Gaara's brow furrowed.

"Of course. You're getting stronger, we all are. Why do you ask?" Nia hung her head as she took a seat next to the red head as he sat down on the edge of a cliff overlooking the village.

"I feel…I- I don't know, it's tough to explain." She said softly with a sigh.

"Well try to explain, and I'll try to understand." Gaara said watching as Nia's eyes scanned the village before meeting his.

"Lately I've been having this dream… I know it's foolish to get worked up over a dream, I mean, it's not real, but anyways… It's always different, but exactly the same. It's either my aunt or uncle, my teammates or sensei or Kanky-kun or Temari-chan, but mostly….mostly it's you Gaara-kun. One of you guys is always hurt or in danger and no matter what I do, I can't help in any way. My chakra won't work so I can't heal you, no matter how hard I hit I can't save any of you from the enemy…nothing works. It's like I have the strength of wet paper. And almost always the person in my dream…the one who needed my help…they die." Nia said quietly wringing her hands.

"And these dreams frighten you?" Gaara asked watching as Nia nodded.

"More than you could ever imagine. My greatest fear is to lose somebody I love Gaara-kun. I love my aunt and uncle, their like my parents. I love my teammates and sensei, they mean so much to me and we're all great friends. Kanky-kun and Temari-chan are like the siblings I never had and they mean so much to me…"

'And me?' Gaara thought to himself.

"…And you Gaara-kun, you were my first true friend. You are my best friend, my most precious friend and I love you so much it hurts. It kills me inside when I cant even help you in a dream. If I ever lost you…I don't think I could ever move on with my life." Gaara sat in a stunned silence.

'I'm _her_ most precious friend? She loves me so much it hurts? Do I cause her pain? And continue on? What does she mean by that?'

"Nia, I don't understand what you mean. If I were to die the world would go on like always, I'm nothing special that the world would stop for me."

"Gaara-kun, If anything bad were to happen to you, If I were to lose you in any way I wouldn't be able to go on because _my _world would stop. I wouldn't be able to live in a world without you in it." Nia said looking into his blue green eyes.

"You lived for many years before ever meeting me Nia." Gaara said not seeing the hidden meaning behind her words. Nia shook her head gently.

"No, I may have been alive, but I never truly lived." These words made the red headed boy's heart clench. Did he really have such a strong influence on Nia's life?

"**Obviously."**

'Haven't heard from you in a while…'

"**I've been busy, so you gonna make a move?"** Shukaku purred.

'What?'

"**Oblivious as ever 'Gaara-kun'. You like her. She practically spilled her heart out to you. Her feelings have only grown for you, and apparently losing you would kill her so I'd say that she loves you."**

'I know that she loves me.' Gaara said softly to the raccoon demon, but as he said that, his thoughts couldn't help but drift back and land upon the last person who supposedly loved him.

"**Not all love ends with one trying to kill the other Gaara. Trust her you trust the other two, and you care for her as well. For once let those feelings take control."**

'What do I do?'

"**Whatever your heart tells you to do."**

'Hearts are organs, they don't talk.' Shukaku sighed in annoyance.

"**Fine! You know that strange feeling you get when that bug's around?"**

'Don't call Nia a bug, and yes.' Gaara said in annoyance. Where was Shukaku going with this anyways?

"**Just give into that feeling, close your eyes and give into it."**

'What if something happens?'

"**Something will, you just have to trust yourself."** Shukaku said once again leaving Gaara alone in his head. Nia's last words still rung loudly in his head. '_I may have been alive, but I never truly lived.'_ Gaara closed his eyes and found the strangely nice feeling once again. It was strange but not bad, it felt….warm

'Why do I feel this way around him? It's like I can't breathe when I think about him, I get tongue tied and my heart beats so hard it hurts. I know I have a crush on him, but crushes don't feel like this…He's my closest friend and I love him…am I – Am I in love with Gaara-kun?' Suddenly it felt as if a the clenching in her heart had been released.

'That's it, I don't just love Gaara-kun, I'm in love with him too!' Suddenly Nia felt a warmth envelope her hand, and looking down she saw a sight she had never expected. Gaara's hand was covering her own. Nia smiled, Gaara had told her of his youth, and about Yashamaru, so she knew how hard it was for Gaara to entrust his heart to another person. For Nia, just this small bit of affection was enough for her. Because it was enough, she never expected the sand to pull her closer to the red head.

She marveled in awe, for she was so close she could actually feel the warmth he was radiating. Only then did the brunette realize how cold it had become. She had been lost in her thoughts and didn't notice as the last bits of daylight crept from the village, nor did she notice how quickly the temperature had been dropping, no, her thoughts were on Gaara, the very same Gaara holding her hand, and pulling her close to keep her warm in the cold desert night. However….the desert didn't seem so cold.

Gaara watched as she smiled up at him with heavy eyes, the trip from Konoha to Suna was finally taking its toll on her.

"**Just give in and trust your emotions."**

'My emotions?' the boy thought to himself.

"**Hey, it's 'me'! Your emotions! You want to kiss her!" **Shukaku said in a high pitched squeaky voice.

'Shut-up!'

"**Oh come on Gaara, I know you want to kiss her, you know you want to. Just do what makes you happy, and don't say that this is just it because I know you."**

'Fine….I do want to kiss her.'

"**Then what's stopping you?"**

'I- I don't know.'

"**Just think about it, she confesses that she loves you, in her own way sure, and you kiss her. She'd remember this night forever. You don't kiss her, she forgets about tonight and it's a night you regret forever."**

"Nia?" Gaara asked softly.

"Hmm?"

"If I lost you, my world would stop spinning….Long ago I thought that I validated my existence by killing others, but now I know, I understand now."

"Understand what Gaara-kun?" Nia asked looking up sleepily once again meeting Gaara's sea green eyes.

"You're the reason I live this way today, before I met you I was dead inside, proving my existence in the worst way possible. But now I understand. I live truly because I met you. Thank you for that." Gaara said quietly.

"Your wel-" Before the girl could finish responding, she was cut short by a gentle kiss. Nia's eyes flew open wide with surprise, but fluttered closed as she was overwhelmed with pure bliss. Tentatively she kissed him back. As Gaara began to pull back, he was surprised as she pulled him closer once again.

Who knew such a simple gesture could make him feel this way, it was as if an electric shock had woken him, his heart raced, his lips tingled and he had the urge to touch her, as if to check that she was truly here with him wrapped in his arms. Slowly his hand caressed her face, making its way down her neck and shoulders and resting on her back. Once they pulled apart from each other Nia lay her head against Gaara's chest as she listened to his racing heart. Gaara held her tightly in his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"Thank you Gaara-kun, for trusting me with your heart."

"Thank you for always caring for it….Nia?"

"Yes?"

"You know I care for you right? I care for you more than I care for myself. I can't imagine life without you here with me. You're my closest friend Nia, you're my most precious person as well." Gaara could feel Nia smile as she fell asleep against him. A faint smell of flowers, gentle and peaceful, just like her blew through the wind. His lips still tingled with her taste, forever embedded into his mind.

Suna was silent at this hour, change was not something that came easily in a desert. Its nature is engrained so compactly into it that it is impossible to change. The desert was so much like its soon to be leader, except that he had changed. But, the desert was never destined to change. It would stay the same until the end of time.

Gaara could not believe how lucky he was. All because of chance, of fate, his life had changed drastically. Who would have thought that the Demon of Sand would be so blessed?

Unknowingly, he whispered these thoughts and more aloud. "I just can't believe how lucky I am. Could all of this really have happened to me? I thought I had no hope, but then…..I met her. And I thought that the only thing in store for me was death, but fate took a different route. Gave me new life. I am so indebted to her. I love her so much."

The next two days it took for Nia's team to recuperate passed by in a flash and in what felt like moments Gaara was standing at the entrance of Suna with Kankuro (Temari was on ambassador duty in Konoha) saying their farewells to the Konoha shinobi, and watched as they walked away. Just as the sand was about to bring Gaara to his favorite look out, a hand grabbed his wrist stopping him. Gaara looked over to see a smiling Nia who was panting slightly from the run back . Gaara smiled his small smile as they hugged each other tightly.

"Gaara, please be safe." Nia whispered.

"I will, send word when you return so I know you've arrived safely." Gaara said, just as quietly as she.

"I'll do that…I'll be seein ya." She said with a smile as he caught her lips in a quick kiss.

"Yeah, I'll see you later Nia." Gaara said releasing her and watching as she ran to catch up with her teammates.

Kankuro stared wide eyed at Gaara, his mouth agape.

"If you don't close your mouth soon you're going to choke on the sand." Gaara said as he walked back to the village leaving his brother staring in shock.

'Did Nia and Gaara just kiss? When the HELL did that happen!' Kankuro thought, oblivious to his surroundings as he made his way into the village once again. After crashing into several poles, tripping over two sand dunes and colliding into an elderly woman and being forced to pick up her groceries and bring them to her house, Kankuro finally made his way back home still in shock about seeing his brother kiss someone. Was he angry or upset? No, he was happy, completely overjoyed infact, but surprised? You'd better believe it. Then a thought came to him. He needed to tell Temari! Sure she wouldn't believe him in the least but he still needed to tell her! With that in mind he hurried to the falconry.

Gaara lay on his mattress staring up at the ceiling of his room. He had heard his brother enter the house, then suddenly run back out the door. Shrugging, Gaara closed his eyes and relaxed. The desert was HIS domain, and if anything happened out there he'd know about it. With these thoughts Gaara of the desert fell asleep.

Several months passed and the upcoming Jonin exams had come and gone, and for the sand Trio, the jonin exams were no different than their Chunin exams they had passed only a year earlier. The blonde and brunette felt an immense sense of pride for their younger brother as he joined them in accepting his new jonin rank. While his face was typically closed off and stoic, the Jinchuriki was beaming on the inside, for once again he was another step closer to achieving his dream.

Another year had passed and Nia and Gaara had seen very little of each other, and their main communication had been through letters. Months ago he had received from her a young falcon whom Nia had named Kaze stating that the bird was now his and that they needed to bond. Seeing the gold and brown bird always brought a small smile to Gaara's face, and he'd spend most of his day with the falcon, studying it, as the falcon would examine its master with his golden eyes. The bond between falcon and master grew strong over the many months. Gaara sent the bird out with another letter to Nia, he watched as Kaze screeched joyfully as it flew through the air and off into the distance. Gaara watched until the bird was no longer in sight. He couldn't wait for Nia to get the letter because today his dream had come true, he had been chosen out of all the other candidates to become Kazekage.

**Sorry for the long wait, I've been typing up the chapters I've written out for my stories, yay my cpu's fixed all that's left to worry about is college finals besides I'm almost done with the next chapter any ways. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading and for the reviews! ^_^**


	21. Christmas in the desert

A tough life Christmas Omake

A Christmas celebration

Gaara sat meditating on top of the house he and his siblings share, to him it was just another day of the week in the month of December, why would it ever be anything else? He could feel a familiar presence buzzing around their home. Nia had decided to spend the week in Suna with them, and ever since she had arrived strange things had begun popping up around the house.

First were the lights, vibrant and multicolored all on the windows and covering the walls in the halls. Why? Did she not understand that the desert had electricity too? Or perhaps she did not believe they had enough lights? Was she afraid of the dark maybe? Gaara decided he needed to figure this out, but instead of rushing off, he sat back and observed.

After the lights came the second weird thing. Large fuzzy things that could only be described as socks were hung on all the bedroom doors and their names were on them. Gaara's red 'sock' hung on his door, his name carefully sewn on. Temari, Kankuro, and Nia had one as well, Temari's was purple, Kankuro's was dark blue, and Nia's was a pale green. Every day that passed the 'socks' would grow heavier as they were slowly filled with items wrapped in brightly colored paper and what appeared to be gold coins. This confused Gaara more, especially when he went to see what was wrapped in the bright blue paper only to have his hand slapped gently by the auburn haired girl then to be scolded that he couldn't open it until Christmas was here. Who was this Chris Mis Nia was speaking of and why were they offering wrapped items in brightly colored socks to him? Gaara simply walked away with ever growing confusion.

The third thing was the strangest by far. When Gaara and his siblings returned home from sparring practice they found a live pine tree inside their living room being decorated in those multicolored lights, glass balls on hooks and other….things by the Konoha ninja. The trio stared in shock and Temari was the first to speak.

"Is….it that a real tree?" the blonde said dumbly.

"Yep!" Nia replied happily still decorating it.

"Where did you get it?" Kankuro asked in shock.

"I found it."

"Is this in honor of Chris Mis?"

"Yes, it's Christmas eve so tonight were going to spend together doing all sorts of holiday type things."

"Temari, Kankuro can I talk to you outside?" Gaara asked as he began walking from the room leaving a busy Nia alone with the tree.

"What's up baby brother?" Kankuro asked as he leaned against the side of the mansion.

"Can somebody explain to me who Chris Mis is, and of all places why Nia chose our house to sacrifice a tree covered in glass and lights?" Temari stared in shock, sure Gaara didn't have many Christmases, but surely he should know about them right? Just as she was about to open her mouth to answer, Kankuro beat her to it.

"Ahh the dreaded Christmas…Chris Mis is the vengeful spirit of a man who once lived on the north pole called Santa Clause, or also known as, Chris Cringle."

"Kankuro!"

"Temari, please Kankuro's explaining this to me." Gaara said turning his full attention back to his older brother." Temari simply face palmed and sighed as she listened to Kankuro's tale.

"As I was saying… He used to bring presents to little girls and boys who were well behaved, but because there were so many bad children, he and his elf slaves made far too many toys, so while he was putting them away a tower of heavy toy boxes fell on him crushing him to death, now his angry spirit comes around every year, and to appease it we hang socks called stockings and fill them with wrapped offerings so he will pass by us and not curse us with his curse. The tree is where the major offerings lie, and usually extra worried people who fear being possessed and controlled by the spirit leave out food offerings of milk and cookies. This year it is said that his spirit will be descending upon Suna searching for those to plague with his curse." Temari stared at her brother who now held a lit flashlight under his face as he finished his story.

"Wha? Where the heck did you get that?" As his siblings began to bicker neither noticed as Gaara vanished in a swirl of sand.

"You can't tell him things like that Kankuro! Gaara takes things literally! Gaara don't- Gaara?"

"You really think he believed me?" in seconds he was struck in the head by Temari's heavy metal fan.

"Of course he did! He was expecting a serious answer to his question you you CLIENT!"

"What kind of name is that!"

"Shut up and go find Gaara Kankuro!"

As the two fanned out, neither actually decided to check inside the house for their brother, had they thought to do so they would have found him spying on the Konoha kunoichi. Gaara watched as Nia began mixing various ingredients into a bowl. Flour, butter, eggs, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips…. He stared, his brother was right! Nia was making the food offering just as Kankuro had said. If that was true, than indeed the whole story about the vengeful spirit must be true as well! Just before he could turn to leave, his sleeve was caught by a passing Nia.

"I could feel you eye hunting my cookies Gaara. They'll be ready in about ten minutes or so, wanna help me wrap some presents for Temari and Kankuro?" Gaara didn't answer, but followed Nia into the guest room anyways.

"Here, you'll need wrapping paper, Tape, scissors, bows, and the gift to wrap. Now pay attention, I'll show you how it's done." Nia said as she grabbed a rectangular box and placed it on the paper.

"You place it in the center and take the side and pull it to the middle like this. Now take a little bit of tape and tape the paper to the box. Now do you see how this paper is still attached to the roll?" Gaara nodded. "You bring the paper across the present until it just covers the area you just taped over. Now that you know how much you need, you fold the paper at the edge of the tube and cut it off with the scissors. Tape the second side down, fold the sides in on themselves and tape them down too, and tada! You have wrapped a present. This one was Temari's so take a label, write her name on it and stick it to the present. Think you can do a few more?" Gaara nodded as he began to wrap, they started out nowhere near as good as Nia's but slowly they began to improve. Nia smiled and hummed as she wrapped and Gaara just couldn't understand, why was she so happy about a holiday that involved an angry vengeful ghost and a crazy amount of offerings? Finally he just decided to ask her.

"Nia, what does this Chris Mis mean to you?" Nia looked up from her wrapping just as she slapped on a purple bow and tossed it to the Temari pile.

"I think Christmas is a beautiful thing, it's a time where- What's that look for?"

"What part of Chris Mis could be a beautiful thing? He's the vengeful ghost of a toy maker who receives vast amounts of offerings to avoid his curse. You were even baking the food offering!" Nia stared in shocked confusion.

"Who the hell told you that? Christmas is a holiday not a vengeful ghost of a …wait by toy maker did you mean Santa Clause! Santa never died! Why would he be vengeful, he was the most giving person on the planet!" She sighed as she rubber her temples. "Kankuro told you this didn't he?"

"Yes, this isn't the story behind Christmas?" Nia laughed as she led Gaara to the kitchen.

"That's not even close Gaara-kun, Christmas is a time for giving. It's a time of miracles, and for each culture, the meaning's different. For some this holiday celebrates the birth of their god. For others, it's a celebration of the changing of the seasons were they party and give each other gifts to make amends should they have ever faulted their fellow man. Now, Christmas is focused more on the decoration of Christmas trees and the giving of presents to tell someone that you care for them."

"But what about the food offering of cookies?" Gaara asked watching as Nia pulled out the tray of golden cookies from the oven.

"The cookies are a tradition, think of it as a thank you to Santa Clause for bringing gifts to the children of our planet. Me personally, I just like chocolate chip." Nia said as she took an already cooled cookie and handed one to the red head who bit into it and savored the melted chocolaty goodness.

"What are the socks for? And why wouldn't you let me see the wrapped stuff inside?"

"The stockings hold the smaller gifts, usually little trifles here and there, like an example would be Kankuro's make-up, or a small ornate fan for Temari."

***Somewhere in Suna***

"ACHOO!"

"Must you be so obnoxious?" Temari asked sending a withering glare towards her brother, but Kankuro brushed it off as he rubbed his nose.

"Some big breasted babe must be talking about me." He said with a smirk, however the smirk didn't last long as he was soon bashed in the head by his sister.

"IDIOT!"

*** Back with Nia and Gaara***

"What about the gold coins?"

"Again Gaara tradition." Nia said as she ripped the plastic mesh open and began depositing handfuls of coins into the stockings. "Besides, it's not really gold. It's chocolate, see?" She said giving him a gold coin as she began peeling the gold outer foil from hers and popping it into her mouth. Gaara nodded as he followed Nia around the house as she finished final touches to her Christmas cheer. Finally together they brought the presents down and placed them under the tree.

"Who are those for?" Gaara asked indication the presents with the red bows. While wrapping the gifts he had only seen purple and green bows for Temari and Kankuro, but not red ones.

"Those are for you Gaara-kun, did you think you wouldn't get anything?" Gaara didn't answer the question, but instead went into the kitchen and grabbed another cookie. Handing one to Nia as he passed. Nia sighed as she shook her head.

"Hey, have you seen Temmi-Chan and Kanky-kun? I haven't seen either of them in hours." Suddenly out of the blue, the door burst open.

"I give up! He's freekin gone!" Kankuro snapped as he ripped his kitty eared hat from his head.

"I just don't know where in the world he went!" Temari said tossing aside her fan as she crossed the threshold into the mansion.

"Who are you looking for?" Nia asked.

"GAARA!" They said in unison.

"What are you guys talking about he's been with me the entire day." Nia said to Temari before rounding on The middle child.

"And YOU Kankuro, I've got a bone to pick with you! Why the hell did you tell Gaara that Christmas was a holiday about some kind of vengeful ghost! Didn't you know he takes stuff like this seriously!" Kankuro winced as the much smaller girl yelled at him. He was head and shoulders over her and still cowered in fear as she raged at him. After sending him a sharp eyed look, Nia turned away from the middle Sabaku child.

"It's late, we should head to bed, there's lots to do tomorrow and I'm honestly debating bringing all your presents back." She said as Kankuro crept over to the tree nudging a box with his name on it. Quicker than the famed Yellow flash, the puppet ninja went to his room for the night. One by one the inhabitants of the Kazekage's mansion went to their sleeping quarters, all except for one red headed jinchuriki who sat quietly on the roof. He watched the moon as it slowly made its way through the sky, finally he sensed a presence climbing the steps to get to the roof.

"You should be asleep, it's late." He said as the girl sat down next to him.

"It's Christmas though, and I wanted you to be the first person to get a present." Nia said as she handed him a small rectangular box.

"What is it?"

"Open it and find out." Gaara gave her a look before slowly unwrapping the box. Inside was a sash much like his own, but on the end a symbol was embroidered into it.

"An 8?"

"No, flip it sideways. This symbol means infinity, forever, never ending. That symbolizes our friendship. I want it to be something that lasts forever."

"Thank you, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Gaara-kun"

**Tis my Christmas Omake. I figured that Kankuro would do something like that, I actually got quite into it imagining random scenarios that could go on in my head LOL, anyways happy holidays people, and to those who don't celebrate the holidays, have a happy new year.**


	22. A frightening twist of fate

A Tough life

Chapter 21

Frightening twist of fate

Nia's heart pounded in her chest as she stood silently in the abandoned building. She could see _their_ shadows moving around, searching for her. Nia pressed herself farther against the wall as the shadow got closer, her body trembling violently out of fear. Twice she managed to escape, only to be caught by that snake. She could feel a powerful presence near the door as her heart froze in panic.

'So close! Too close!' Suddenly the presence slowly melted away, moving away in its search of her. Breathing a sigh of relief Nia turned, only to come face to face with the snake's silver haired assistant. Gasping and with a well-placed kick, Nia sprinted from the abandoned building seeing only a fleeting image of the assistant Kabuto doubled over in pain.

'Run! Gotta run!' Nia ran as hard and as fast as she could, leaving the abandoned wreckage behind her. She had no idea how long she had been in that tiny cell, but one thing she knew for sure…This was the farthest she had ever gotten. Nia continued to run, she was exhausted but that didn't matter, her lungs burned, and yet that didn't matter either…All that mattered was getting home alive.

(2 weeks earlier)

As Gaara stood before the people of Suna he scanned the crowd, his siblings were seated and so were his friends from Konoha, but one person, one very important person was missing. Today it was announced that Gaara would become the fifth Kazekage and would take said position in one month's time. Of all his friends and family it was Nia who pushed him towards his dreams with her bright smile and never ending encouragement but….

'Where is she?' Gaara thought, his brow slightly creasing with worry. For reasons unknown to the Jinchuriki, Gaara couldn't help but feel an immense sense of dread, this feeling only increased when a desert rarity occurred. The desert vulture was a rare enough sight to behold in the daylight, but it was an old Suna superstition that if said bird blocked out the sun, even briefly it was seen as an omen of ill fate. Suppressing the urge to abandon the ceremony (had he done so his title as Kazekage would have become forfeit), Gaara watched the bird, and waited patiently for the ceremonial tradition to end. Once it did, in a move that surprised the audience, Gaara immediately left and headed towards the Kazekage's tower, heading to the falconry on the top floor. Taking the very same falcon that Nia had given him many months prior, he wrote a quick note and after attaching it to the bird's leg, Gaara brought it to the window.

"Go find Nia Kaze." He said softly, watching as the bird flew through the window and soared over Suna.

'Please, just let her be late." As the falcon flew out of sight, Gaara's bad feeling only increased.

(Another week earlier)

"So let's see, what have we here?" the man hissed as Hana and Mai were flung to the ground unconscious, her two wolf summons vanishing in a cloud of smoke(I know she has 3 dogs and no summons making it like this makes it easier)

"SENSEI!"

"Ai don't! This guy's way out of our league." Nia said holding her normally collected and calm teammate back.

"But-" Before the Aburame girl could object, she was cut off by her other teammate.

"Nia's right Ai, this guy's completely past our skill level. His chakra levels are sky high." As Nia and Raizo held Ai back, they were being circled by their enemy and his snake summon.

"Let's see, we have a blind Hyuga branch member, useless. A mediocre Aburame, a pointless investment…" While the man ticked through her teammates, examining them Nia snuck over to her sensei and began healing her, however the interest in his voice earned her attention.

"And _what_ little prize do we have here?" He said looking at Nia causing chills to run down her spine.

'Normal chakras are usually blue, even healing ones are tinted only light green…but dark green chakra?' This piqued the man's interest as he smiled dangerously at the group's youngest member. Ai noticed this and immediately sent her swarm to block Nia from the man's view.

"Nia, run as fast as you can now! Get out of here! Raizo, get sensei out! GO!" Without hesitation they grabbed their charges and ran, not because Ai had just become a special Jonin and there for out ranked them, but because of the tone of her voice, she was about to risk everything to protect her team, even if it meant her life, and they knew it. Nia, holding her sensei's partner Mai ran as fast as she could.

'Help, we've gotta find help! Sensei's hurt, and now Ai's alone with that monster!'

"I remember _you_, you're Orochimaru. I will not let you hurt my team." Ai said dangerously, her Kikai buzzing loudly in agitation. However the snake man merely laughed.

"If you know who I am, you know you're making a foolish decision child."

"I saw that look in your eyes when you looked at Nia you sick freak, you'll get her over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged." Ai steeled herself, she knew what he was capable of, and she knew she face a most certain death.

"Raizo, run faster, we need to get help for Ai!" Nia gasped as she hurried through the trees, though she was the fastest, her teammate was being weighed down considerably because of their unconscious sensei.

"Take sensei, I'll take Mai, besides I'm- SHIT! Nia he's catching up! 40 feet ahead third tree to the left is hollow enough, hide Mai and keep going, she'll just weigh you down. I'll stay with sensei, but you go, you're the fastest, Go! Konoha's only a mile away, you can make it!" Placing the ninja hound in the tree next to her master, Nia sprinted away in a flash towards Konoha.

'I'll be back soon Rai! I promise, please, both of you stay safe.' Nia jumped through the trees putting considerable distance between herself and the others. When Konoha's great gates could be seen on the horizon, Nia slid to a stop, in front of her was a silver haired man holding her unconscious teammates over his shoulders. The slight 'thump' behind her made the girl spin around. The same man from earlier was holding her sensei carelessly with a kunai knife to her throat.

"Please don't hurt them, please! I'll do whatever you want just please don't hurt them!" Nia begged. The dark haired man smiled at her reaction.

"Looks like it was easier to convince her that previously thought, wouldn't you say Kabuto?" Now his eyes bore into Nia's "You will come with us without a fight. Do so and we'll let them live." Nia was now shaking from a mixture of fear and anger.

"o-only if I bring them to the gates, their hurt." Now the older man smirked.

"Of coooourse. Kabuto bring them to the edge of Konoha."

'This will be fun.' Taking an iron clad grip on Nia's wrist, the silver haired man vanishes in a swirl of leaves, only to reappear at the edge of the village. Roughly he tossed the girl and her team into the view of the Chunin on guard duty. Nia landed roughly gasping in pain, and seconds later she was joined by her team.

"Nia!" Nia looked up immediately when she heard her name called. Her uncle and the gate keepers were running over to the group. Scrambling to her feet Nia tried running to the safety of her uncle and several Konoha ninja.

"Uncle Kaji there's-" Suddenly the girl was jerked backwards by several snakes wrapped around her arms and waist as she screamed.

"NIA!" Kaji ran into the forest and was greeted with smoke and silence. He was moments too late, they were gone.

(Back to the present time, the above happened 3 weeks prior)

Gaara waited almost two days for the falcon to return, and once it did, he grabbed the message from its scroll pouch and read it with ever growing dread. Temari climbed the stairs and opened the door just in time to watch her brother drop the scroll in shock.

"Gaara what's wrong?" Temari asked quickly fearing the look on his face. That look meant something bad happened. Clenching his hand over his heart, Gaara stood there, it felt as if his heart had been ripped from his chest and shredded.

"Damn it." He whispered squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

'This can't be happening, this cannot be happening! Not her…' Temari stared at her brother with concern.

"Gaara?" She asked in a small voice.

"DAMN IT!" He yelled angrily, punching the stone wall before he ran passed his sister and hurried down the stairs. Temari watched in shock as her brother fled the room, if he was so worked up that he chose to run instead of using his sand to teleport him, then something was definitely wrong. Picking up the scroll, Temari dusted the dirt off it and read the message inside.

_Nia, you weren't at the ceremony, Are you alright?_

_-Gaara_

That had been written in her brother's familiar slanted handwriting, now Temari glanced at the reply.

_Gaara, Nia's been abducted and we suspect that the missing Sanin Orochimaru is involved. I'm sorry, we haven't informed you sooner but we've been searching nonstop for weeks now._

_-Kaji_

Temari too stared at the scroll in horror. Rolling up the message she ran back to the house.

"Gaara!" Kankuro answered instead.

"Tem, what's going on?" Temari ran looking for her youngest brother, Kankuro following close behind.

"Where's Gaara?" The blonde asked.

"He ran upstairs to his room grabbed his gourd and just left, what happened?" the boy asked pulling his sister to a stop.

"Nia's been kidnapped, most likely by Orochimaru." Kankuro glared at the mention of the name.

"When do we leave?" he asked quickly.

"When we find Gaara, pack what you need now." Temari replied as she ran into her room

"Right." Grabbing their travel bags, the two siblings sprinted to the outskirts of the village catching a glimpse of their brother as he ran into the desert. Hurrying up, the pair finally caught up to the youngest Sabaku.

"You can't stop me from going." Gaara said, not even sparing them a glance.

"We weren't going to." Kankuro said pointing to the pack on his back. "We're coming too." Temari nodded as she placed a hand on the red head's shoulder.

"That's right, we're going to help you get Nia back Gaara. Don't forget, you aren't alone anymore." Even after almost 2 and a half years, it was hard for Gaara to hear those words, still. Acceptance from the citizens of Suna, though important to Gaara meant nowhere as much as the acceptance of his siblings did. Gaara nodded his acceptance of their company and Temari smirked as she slowed the boys to a stop.

"So, who wants to get to Konoha in the next half hour?" she said opening her fan and summoning her weasel making Kankuro pale.

'Not again!'

"She's a very interesting specimen, wouldn't you say Kabuto?" The snake sannin said looking at the struggling wide eyed girl strapped to the medical table.

"Indeed Lord Orochimaru, her chakra system is very unique to say the least, not to mention the chakra seal. I almost missed that." Kabuto said as he pushed Nia's hair aside and pointing out the small barely visible seal on the back of her neck.

'Hmmm, during my time in the Akatsuki I was in charge of finding the Yonbi, and from what I've gleaned from that organization, the only creature to have chakra that color green is four-tails. Which means…'

"Lord Orochimaru, I believe this girl might just be a demon container. It would explain her seal and her chakra color." The snake summoner laughed.

"Insightful as ever Kabuto. What we have here is a pseudo Jinchuriki, she contains some power from the four-tailed gorilla. Had she been a true jinchuriki she would have known of and used her powers. Aside from that the Yonbi resides in the land of stone. Tsunade probably even remains unaware of her existence."

"All the better then."

"Indeed, sedate her and we'll begin the tests…"

Nia awoke alone in the dark cell leaning against the wall. Being alone in a dark cell she could take, being a prisoner and a test subject?…well that was a different story, but she could handle it for the time being…However the look of utter terror on her uncle's face killed her inside. It was the look of pure fear. Fear of losing the closest thing to a child he ever had, that look tore her heart apart. Nia was ripped from her thoughts when the door was suddenly opened. For a moment the girl was blinded by the light.

"Here." A voice said as a young man placed a plate on the ground. Nia opened her eyes and squinted at the blurry figure trying to bring him into focus. Something about this boy was very familiar, but what?

"Who are you?" Nia asked politely. After all Honey does attract more flies than vinegar.

"Who I am doesn't concern you…to be honest, you'd be better off not knowing who I am." Nia simply cocked her head to the side.

"Saying that only makes me more curious as to who you are." The boy made a sound between what Nia thought was a scoff and a laugh.

"Hn…Fine, I'm the guy who brings meals to the prisoners some times, and you are?"

"A prisoner." Nia said flatly.

"Heh, touché." Nia's eyes were adjusting as she scrutinized the teen before her.

"You look familiar, have you ever been to Konoha?" Abruptly the boy turned and walked from the cell locking it behind him. Nia simply sighed.

'Maybe Konoha's a touchy subject for him…' She looked at the food warily, Nia was far from tempted to eat, but maybe a plan could be hatched from this. She picked at the stones that were embedded into the wall and found a loose one just behind the door. Ripping apart her roll and stuffing it into the hole Nia spooned some of the mushed….mush in where the stone was, then shoved the rock back in place. Nia lay down next to the plate and feigned unconsciousness.

'Now we wait.' As expected, sometime later Nia heard door latches opening and closing, she closed her eyes and waited. The latch to her door was opened and the silver haired man Kabuto could be heard sighing.

"Too strong a dosage." He said scribbling something on to the chart in his hand as he locked view latch.

'I knew it! I knew something was in the food!' Just as Nia was about to move, the lock to her door turned, clicking open. This prompted the girl to play dead as once again she was bathed in light. Nia could feel herself being lifted from the ground and placed on a gurney. As she was wheeled down the hall, she could see flashes of light from the torches. Finally after countless minutes they stopped moving. Taking a chance Nia cracked one of her eyes open slightly and found herself to be alone in the hallway. Opening her eyes and sitting up, Nia hopped from the gurney.

'I've gotta get the hell outta here.' She thought as she hurried down the halls, keeping track every time she turned a corner. 'right, left, right, left, straight, left, right, straight, right.' (hidden Zelda pun, that's the path through the lost woods for ocarina of time) She dashed through the corridors until she could smell the fresh air. Then she paused. 'Which way now?' An alarm blared breaking the girl from her thoughts. 'They know! Gotta hide!' Throwing open the nearest door Nia slipped inside it snapping it tightly shut behind her. Before she could breathe a sigh of relief she stared in shock.

"So you're the cause for the alarm hmm? It seems that you're sharper than even Orochimaru anticipated." Nia could have died from shock had she been that kind of girl.

"You…You're the food guy from earlier…" Now that Nia had a good look at him, she knew why he seemed so familiar. "You're Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke right?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he scoffed.

"Pfft, you know me, but I don't know you. Another past fan girl I presume?"

"No." Nia answered taking the boy off guard. "You punched me in the face during the Chunin exams!" She snipped hottly.

"What?" He genuinely sounded confused.

"You punched me during the chunin exams. You called me a traitor for trying to make Gaara not go crazy. But what happens after you flip on me? You defect from the leaf, you damn hypocrite!" Sasuke scowled at the girl before him.

"Yeah, well- Stand against the wall behind the door now!" He hissed quickly. Nia did immediately as she was told, and seconds later the door burst open cornering the girl in between the door and the wall.

"Sasuke, patient number 326 is gone, it's a female around your age, brown hair and eyes, about 5'4 and 145 pounds maybe, you seen her?"

'Ugh! I'm 130 you bastard! Wait, why is he hiding me?'

"No Kabuto, It's not my problem who you lose, I'm just here to get stronger." The silver haired man sighed in annoyance before shutting the door and leaving. Nia's mind was filled with questions, but only one fell from her lips.

"Why? Why did you hide me?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly. I'll take you back to your cell, let's go."

"Gaara!"

"Koori." The older blonde hugged the red head before breaking down and sobbing. While this normally would leave the jinchuriki confused and nervous, Gaara had a feeling that all Koori needed was a hug just then, so he did so.

"She's been gone for over two weeks Gaara, two weeks! I'm so worried for my baby!"

"Don't worry, I'll find her and bring her home. I promise." Temari and Kankuro stared at the sight, neither the least bit surprised, In the two short years they had known this family Koori had become something of a mother to the orphaned three Sabaku children.

"I know you'll find her Gaara. After all she found you. Soul mates find each other time and time again. Gaara nodded his head. Nia _was_ the one who found him, _she_ saved him from the darkness, the darkness of others, and even from the darkness within himself.

~~~Flashback~~~

"You really want to be the Kazekage Gaara-kun?" Nia asked staring at the boy before her. Gaara looked away slightly.

"I know it's a stupid dream but-"

"No! It's not a stupid dream at all! If that's what your dream is then go for it! I'll be with you the whole way! Don't you ever doubt that Gaara-kun, Follow your bliss and hold it true. I'll help you in any way I can." Gaara looked at the girl with a small smile on his face.

~~~End flashback~~~

"I'm going upstairs." Gaara announced as Koori let go of him. She sat at the table with Temari and Kankuro as Gaara ascended the steps. He could tell that Koori hadn't slept in days, and he knew Kaji would be no better off. He walked down the hall and stopped in front of the familiar door, his hand on the knob. Turning it ever so slowly he entered the room, Nia's room. It was just as she had left it… a complete mess from the permission scramble. Gaara walked over to the corner of the room and pulled the largest book from the shelf. Opening the cover and the first few pages revealed the hollowed out center containing two much smaller books.

One was a diary, which immediately Gaara put back, and another, which the red headed boy took out and opened. Nia had a horrible habit to easily lose things, so to counteract this she made a log detailing where she would be going for all her missions, the area they would cover and how long she was expected to be gone, also the rank of the mission. Gaara flipped the book open to the most recent log, and true to her nature, Nia had an entry dated exactly two weeks ago.

'Rank: _B_

Where: _Southern border of Konoha_

Expected to last: _3-4 days_

Reason: _Investigating strange sights/disappearances near boarder_

Other: _Taking southern route from Konoha. Ai got back from her most recent mission and will be joining us! Yay! :D'_

Gaara's brow furrowed. He hadn't thought about Nia's teammates, from what he heard last Ai was due back this week from a mission. He didn't expect her to be part of the team when Nia was abducted, so he never thought to ask her what happened, but now that he knew, he was going to be making stops at the Aburame and Hyuga compound. Vanishing in a swirl of sand, he appeared near the eastern part of the village. Gaara had been to the Aburame compound once with Nia, so he had a vague idea where it was located. Within ten minutes he arrived at the gates.

It looked like any other clan compound except for the large black mass of insects hovering silently over the entrance. Gaara stood and watched as the mass turned into a figure of a young Aburame man.

"Please state your business at our compound, and your name." He said looking at Gaara through his sunglasses.

"My name is Sabaku, no Gaara, and I'm here to speak with Ai if she is free."

"She is being informed as we speak, please enter." Nodding Gaara walked through the gates of the compound and stood silently near the door.

"I've told you! Stop calling me Ai-lin and just call me Ai! It's not that hard cousin." An exasperated Ai said as she glared at the Aburame heir who stood with his arms crossed.

"Calling you Ai-lin is better decorum."

"Screw decorum Shino! Can't you just call me Ai because I prefer it? Just-" Ai paused as the Kikaichu beetle landed on her shoulder. "It appears that I have a visitor waiting, we'll finish this conversation later." The two Aburames nodded and went their separate ways, Ai walking from the room.

'Who would be here for me? If it were Raizo they'd just let him in, and Sensei's still in the hospital….' Entering the yard, Ai came face to face with the desert jinchuriki and knew instantly why he was here.

"Gaara-san, please forgive me for not being able to protect Nia. I know why you're here and theirs much to discuss. Come." She said beckoning him to follow.

Nia's body shuddered violently as she sat in her cell. Water was pooling by the door and she could smell the rain. Then much to her dread the door opened revealing Kabuto. Her trembling only increased, she'd been here for almost three weeks and almost escaped twice, unfortunately she was caught both times. In her time there she endured so much pain, physical and mental. She had tried on multiple occasions to fight her captors but failed miserably each time. She still kept up at it though, no way was she going to give up in this hell hole, and no way she was going down without a fight. Because of her multiple escape attempts she had also been moved several times as well.

"Make this easy for once and lets go." Kabuto said in an annoyed voice, he already knew Nia would do no such thing.

"No." She said shaking her head as she pressed herself farther against the wall. Now there was a malicious hint of humor in his voice as the silver haired man spoke.

"I'm starting to think you like having us hunt you down and put you in your place." He said with a feral smirk.

"In your dreams you freak." Nia snipped as she moved away from the approaching man, with little success. In seconds she was pinned against the wall, her arm bent awkwardly behind her. "Let go of me!"

"Why?" he whispered, his breath tickling her ear, smirking as she tried to pull away from him. "We're having fun." Nia gasped as he twisted her arm painfully.

"It's not fun!" she shrieked, felling the bones in her arm crack.

"Kabuto!" The silver haired assistant turned his head lazily still keeping his captive in the same painful position.

"Yes, Sasuke?" Nia gave the dark haired boy a pleading look as tears streamed down her face.

"Orochimaru's looking for you." Kabuto sighed as he twisted her arm further.

"I'm currently in the middle of something right now." He said with a smirk as Nia's knees buckled from the pain.

"He said it had something to do with '_That_.'" Kabuto huffed in annoyance as he released Nia's arm.

"I'll be back to deal with you later." He hissed walking from the room. As he passed the Uchiha he didn't even spare him a glance. Once Kabuto was out of hearing range Sasuke spoke.

"Are you ok?"

"I wanna go home!" the petite girl sobbed holding her hurting arm tightly against her body. "I want my auntie and uncle and I want to see Gaara-kun!" Nia sat there and cried as Sasuke's mind raced.

"Gaara? You mean Sabaku no Gaara from the hidden sand village? From Suna?"

"Yes." Sasuke looked around as his mind battled itself. Walking up to the crying girl, Sasuke crouched and took her by the shoulders making her flinch.

"Look at me and listen, I'm only going to say this to you once. Tomorrow night the watch shift is going to be its lightest yet, a child could sneak out. I'll unlock your door but after that you're on your own. Let's go, I'm moving you to one of the cells on the upper floor." Nia allowed herself to be pulled from the ground and led through the hide out into a new cell. "I'll come back tomorrow night, when you make it out of here, tell Gaara and the Hokage that not all is as it seems." Sasuke said as he locked the door.

Nia sat in silence still holding her arm. Was Sasuke really going to help her escape? She could only hope. Sitting in the corner of the cell, farthest from the door, Nia slowly drifted into a restless sleep, reliving her nightmares of being Orochimaru's lab rat. In her dreams though, Nia would be saved by a sand wielding shinobi with the most beautiful sea green eyes she'd ever seen. Nia was awakened hours later by the sound of the door unlocking. It opened revealing Sasuke, who held a rather large plate of food. Lifting the fork he took a bite of everything on the plate, including the apple before handing it to the girl in front of him. The message she received from the gesture was clear: If I'm eating then it's only food so eat up.

Sasuke watched as Nia took the plate and ate voraciously, in mere minutes the plate was licked clean and discarded to the floor as Nia feasted on the apple. What was it about this girl that struck a chord in the Uchiha's heart? He had seen Kabuto ruthlessly pummel other prisoners, men, women and children alike and he honestly could have cared less. Was it because she was the only link to Konoha and his friends he had here? Perhaps… Nia reminded him of Sakura with her determination. Her smile, which he earned once, resembled Naruto's beaming grin. Her caring nature was similar to Hinata's, while her eyes longed for freedom, much like Neji's had. She was quick witted like Kiba, and calm like Shino. She calculated things with much precision much like Shikamaru, and was mellow quite like Chouij, and was stubborn like Ino. He could count the things he had seen in her that reminded him of home.

"Nia?"

"Yefs?" She asked, mouth full of apple.

"When you get back, tell the Konoha eleven that when all's over and done, I'll come home. That's my promise." Nia swallowed and nodded.

"I will."

"I'll be back tonight, so you should be ready to run then." He said once again leaving Nia alone in the dark cell.

"Gaara, it's been six days now and we can't even find a trail."

"Kankuro if you aren't going to be of any use then go home, can't you see this is killing him?" Temari hissed in annoyance punching her brother hard on the arm.

"Tem, Orochimaru's a tricky bastard and he's notoriously difficult to find, do you really think we'll just happen to walk into him while he's out on a little stroll?"

"According to Ai, that's exactly what happened." Gaara said over his siblings heated whispered argument. "Why don't you two go and keep Koori company? Temari if you cook anything please try _not_ to kill her." Temari gave her youngest brother a dirty look before sighing.

"Fine I'll order take out and try to get her to eat something."

"Aren't you coming back with us Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

"No, there's one place I want to check. It's quite close to the leaf village, but it's in the opposite direction you guys would be going."

"So we're splitting up?" Temari asked watching Gaara's reaction.

"When we get near Konoha yes, other than that no." the blonde sighed as she nodded her head.

"Alright, when you go, me and Kankuro will head back to the house." Gaara gave her a simple nod.

"Set up camp and rest, I'll keep watch until morning. I'll be gone before you get up, but I'll make sure the area's safe before I leave."

"Ok, thank you Gaara." Temari said as she watched Gaara make a perimeter with his sand. With that done he took residence in a high up tree watching over the camp. Seeing Gaara act this way saddened Temari deeply, over the last two years Gaara, with Nia's help had become much more open, calm, and dare she even say it…happy. The villagers were accepting him, shinobi wanted Gaara to accompany them on missions, and during every step of the way to becoming Kazekage, Nia had been there happily supporting the person she truly loved. She helped him reach his dreams. Temari could distinctly remember the 'Gaara' cookies Nia had made, they were cinnamon sugar cookies, and Temari practically begged the girl for the recipe. Sighing the blonde entered the tent, stepping over a silent Kankuro. Temari didn't know or care really if he was awake, for now, like the last five nights Temari let her worries send her into her dreams.

Kankuro had heard his sister enter the tent, and as usual he remained silent. He had learned to truly listen early on. He listened as he fixed his puppets, listened as he pretended to sleep. It was funny really. People always spoke differently of him when they thought he was listening. Tonight he listened to his sister's mumblings as she slept. Her worries it seemed affected her dreams. As wild and reckless as he acted, Kankuro was as smart, if not more so than many ever gave him credit for. Temari was restless tonight, as he listened to his sleeping sister's worried thoughts, Kankuro also drifted off. That was his lullaby.

Gaara sat in the tree silently. Although he no longer feared sleeping, tonight he couldn't. Kankuro was right, Orochimaru was a tricky bastard, and he was not easy to find, and Nia… What had become of her? She had been missing for almost a month now and was in the clutches of that snake, surely she was being experimented on. These thoughts made Gaara sick, Nia was strong, but there's only so much one can take. Although he felt sick for the last week as he worried over his friend, tonight his stomach was a ball of writhing nerves. Deep in his heart he knew something big was happening tonight, what it was, he knew not, but not even Shukaku could sit still. He needed to go, he needed to check the place that had become 'Their spot'…. But he promised his siblings that he'd keep them safe… Gaara had been at his post for six hours, and yet the need to go was overwhelming. Jumping from his spot on the tree he entered the tent nudging his brother.

"Wassup?" Kankuro asked sleepily as he sat up.

"I'm leaving now, I don't know why but I need to go _now_." Kankuro was now wide awake.

"Do what you need to, I'll keep watch, just be safe." Kankuro said, watching as his little brother vanished in a swirl of sand.

Nia panted as she sprinted from the small village as alarms sounded off. She could hear the sound of feet chasing after her, and the calls of the guards. As she ran past an abandoned building Nia was suddenly pulled into the shadows.

"Sshh! Be quiet."

"Sasuke?" Indeed it was the Uchiha.

"Give this to the Hokage." He said pressing a scroll into her palm as he led her to the edge of the sound village safely.

"Good luck." Sasuke said before running off. Nia watched him run before turning and escaping into the forest. Nia ran as hard and as fast as she could, but clearly the lack of proper nutrition and exercise this past month was affecting her as she could hear the sounds of people catching up to her. Passing through the brush, Nia caught sight of a small burnt out village and ran towards it. Charred remains of buildings still stood as she raced through the tiny village. Clambering through a window, Nia climbed up to the rafters and stood listening silently. Footsteps could be heard as they flew past her hiding place, finally all was silent. Hopping down with all the noise of a moth, Nia crept over to the door where she paused in fear.

'Shadow!' she thought as she saw a flash under the door. Nia watched as it hovered near the door before vanishing. Channeling chakra to her feet Nia sighed in relief, but feeling a presence behind her, the girl whirled around only to come face to face with a smirking Kabuto. Gasping she kicked out at him and much to her surprise she made contact before sprinting from the house. The silver haired man doubled over in pain watching as their newest 'prize' was making her escape. Growling and after a few stumbling steps, he took chase.

Nia scrambled through the thickets, ignoring the scratches from branches and thorns. How many miles had it been that she'd been running she wondered, as she continued gasping for breath. The sky began to lighten and Nia took note. 'Then I've been on the run for about four hours…' Nia could see the light from the sky straight ahead of her, it was much brighter which meant one thing, the forest was ending, but…

'Where am I?' The sound of rushing water could be heard clearly, could it possibly be what she thought it was? As she ran, Nia splashed through a river and began to follow it.

'Please, let it be what I think it is! Please!' Nia thought as she burst out of the forest, skidding to a stop at the very edge of the cliff. 'It is! This is our waterfall! This is our spot!' An angry voice pulled the girl from her thoughts.

"You have nowhere left to run." An Oto ninja said with a smirk, Nia looked at the group, there were six of them. She was completely outmatched, but not out witted.

"You really think so?" Nia asked as she ran and jumped over the falls. The six ninja ran to the edge, watching as the girl crashed into the roaring waters below. Orochimaru and Kabuto came towards them.

"Where is she?" Kabuto snapped. One of the ninjas responded.

"We lost her over the falls."

The sudden impact into the water left Nia dazed as she floated under the water. Blinking she looked around feeling for the opening under the falls, finding it, she pulled herself through. Breaking the surface, Nia gasped for air as she pulled herself onto the ledge, there she collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

The sun was high in the sky by the time Gaara made it to his destination. The clearing had barely changed. Gaara removed his gourd, armor, and shirt, and placed it in one of the hollowed out tree trunks near the falls. Walking into the water, he waded towards the falls before diving under. After several failed attempts, Gaara finally found the opening and swam through. As he rose to the surface, Gaara reached for the ledge, and instead of feeling the stone floor of the cavern, he felt something incredibly soft and cold instead. Now he pulled himself from the pool of water with a quickness. Pulling the girl away from the edge, he turned her over.

"Nia." He breathed as he held the small, shivering kunoichi close, he finally found her. She wasn't alone any more.

Slowly Gaara took in her appearance, the poor girl looked as if she had been through the wringer, she was covered in scratches and was filthy. What infuriated him though, were the state of her arms. Both were black, blue and raw from so many needles piercing her skin. He was going to kill whoever did this to her.

'Warm….it's warm here. How did I get here again?' Memories of running flashed through her mind, flashes of fear and pain as well, and Nia distinctly remembered jumping off something…

'Why is jumping important? Where did I jump from?' Nia suddenly became aware of the rushing sound of the waterfall. 'That's right, I jumped right over the waterfall…how long have I been out?' She wondered as she opened her eyes. Nia tried to move, only to quickly realize she was being held in place. She looked down to see a pair of hands holding her tightly…a pair of _men's_ hands. Nia scrambled away as flashes of large thick needles and syringes clouded her vision. As she backed away, she held her head in her hands.

"I'm not going back, you can't make me go back, you-" Nia was speechless when she finally realized who she was yelling at and backing away from. Gaara had expected some kind of reaction like this from the panic of the previous events, but even though it was expected, he never expected it to hurt him as much as it did seeing the fear in her eyes.

"Nia." He said softly, watching as the fear in her wide brown eyes slowly ebbed away.

"Gaara-kun? Is it- You're really- oh!" Nia buried her head in her hands as she recognized the hurt in his eyes, as Gaara walked over pulling her close she cried.

"I…I didn't think I'd ever see anybody ever again. I was scared to death." Nia said wiping her eyes dry.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore, I'm here, I'll always be here for you. I'll always come to your rescue, and I'll always find you no matter what. You mean more to me than you'll ever know. Come, let's go home." As they swam out of the cavern, Gaara grabbed his things and began dressing himself as Nia sat on the edge of the river, her head dipping every few seconds.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just really, really tired." She said softly, had it not been for her arms holding her up, Nia would have been face down on the ground. Walking over Gaara picked her up and in moments the girl was unconscious in her arms. After an hour or so, Gaara finally made it into the village, people stared at the Suna boy as he carried the kunoichi through the village towards the Kage's tower. He climbed the steps and entered the office where Shizune sat working on papers. Looking up, Shizune dropped her pen in shock before standing up.

"I'll get Tsunade." She said before hurrying through the far off doorway. Moments later the raven haired woman and blonde Hokage appeared, Tsunade hurrying over.

"My lady, I'll send a messenger to Kaji and Koori immediately." Shizune said as she hurried off. Tsunade motioned for Gaara to follow her in to the office. Once inside, the doors were shut and the privacy seals were activated. Gaara lay Nia on the couch, rubbing her head gently to wake her. It took a few minutes but eventually Nia was alert and sitting in a chair across from Tsunade, however she couldn't meet the blonde's eyes.

"Nia?" She said quietly as brown eyes tentatively met amber ones. "Nobody is angry with you, what happened is not your fault. The man your team went against was a sannin by the name of Orochimaru. There was no way you would have been able to escape him. What happened is not your fault, understood?" Gaara stared curiously.

'Why is she telling Nia this? Obviously it isn't her- Why is she crying?' Gaara thought in a panic as he watched the silent tears stream down the girl's face. 'Did she….did she really believe that this was her fault?'

"Will you tell us what happened Nia?" Tsunade asked gently watching as the girl wiped her eyes.

"It all started on that mission to the boarder…" Gaara and Tsunade listened intently to the ordeal which the young kunoichi had been put through. As he listened Gaara could feel the hatred and rage building up inside him. For this, there would be no way Orochimaru would be left alive, no way. "… And I almost escaped twice and every time I was caught, they would do such horrible things…" Nia continued on with her story and by the time she had finished, Tsunade looked livid, and Gaara seemed ready to kill the snake bastard.

"And how did you escape?" Tsunade asked taking notes for the report. Nia stared wide eyed for a moment before she sighed.

"You- you'd never believe me… that genin who went rouge a few years ago, Uchiha Sasuke, he helped me escape. He said to tell you both that 'nothing was as it seemed, and when everything was over and done, he'd come home'." To say Tsunade and Gaara were surprised was an understatement, and they were even more surprised when Nia pulled a small scroll from her pocket and handed it to the blonde.

"It's probably a bit damp from when I jumped off the waterfall."

"You jumped off the water fall?" Gaara said in shock, his eyes wide. Where had he been that he missed that?

"Gaara, relax Nia as you know is a medic, any injuries she obtained she's probably healed by now." Tsunade said looking over to the girl who now had her head down in shame.

"Actually, I can't. I can't use my chakras, it's like they're not even there."

'Why in the world would he put a block on her chakra? It's not like the girl has an exceptional amount.' Tsunade thought to herself.

'They probably figured out what Nia is, but how? Pseudo jinchuriki are hard to detect, especially if their sealed….did her chakra color give her away?' Gaara thought worriedly, would she end up being hunted by the Akatsuki as well? A knock came to the door before it was unceremoniously burst open.

"Nia!" Said girl spun around in her chair before running over and flinging herself into the arms of her aunt.

"Auntie!"

"My baby! Oh Nia I was so worried!" They watched as the pair happily hugged each other before Koori finally looked over to Gaara. "You brought her home, I knew you'd find her Gaara, I knew it." She said pulling the red haired boy into a bone crushing hug as she kissed his forehead in a motherly fashion. As Koori fussed over her niece, her husband entered the room, pulling the two women in his life into a hug. Gaara and Tsunade watched as the family was happily reunited. But finally Kaji pulled away giving his wife a long look, closing her eyes, she nodded to her husband.

"Lady Tsunade, Nia, we have something very important to tell you."

**That's all for this chapter, kinda left you high and dry there, but all shall be revealed in the next chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing! ^_^**


	23. A truth revealed

A tough life

Chapter 22

A truth revealed

"Lady Tsunade, Nia, we have something very important to tell you both." Kaji said, watching as his niece looked at him curiously, and the Hokage Tsunade furrowed her brow.

"It starts many years ago, far away in the land of stone."

**Flashback**

( 26 years ago )

"Roshi is the youngest compatible possible host in the village, it has to be him!" a greying man said as he sat warily at the table looking at his wife Mayumi and eldest son Kaji who at that time was seven years old. A small cradle sat in the corner of the room as a small infant slept silently, unaware its life was the main subject at the table across the room.

"Father, you can't do that to him, not to Roshi! Didn't you see what happened to the last one? They-"

"Kaji, I'm well aware what happened to the last jinchuriki-"

"Renji you're aware but you're still going to throw this fate at our son?" The red headed woman said in shock as she held her hand to her chest and stared intently at her husband.

"Mayumi, he will be fine. Our son has a family and he will have the protection of our Kage as well!" Kaji shook his head.

"No Dad, Aya had the 'protection' of the kage as well but she ended up dead, we can't let that happen. I won't let that happen to my brother!" he said angrily. Silence rang through the room as tensions ran high, but suddenly a pitiful cry came from the cradle in the corner drawing the attention of the room's occupants. Standing the boy walked to the cradle and after picking up his younger brother he walked from the room after casting an angry glance back at their father.

"Renji? Darling? There must be some other way, we can't do this to our son. Kaji's still recovering from losing Aya. If our Kage couldn't protect that girl even though she was a jinchuriki what makes you think he'll protect our son?" Mayumi said softly as she tugged on her hair nervously. Her husband looked away as he folded his calloused hands on the table top.

"We'll receive no special treatment for our son, I just said that to make our Kage's decision easier for Kaji to accept. I'm well aware how close Kaji was to Aya, but I will be bringing Roshi to the sealer late this evening as our Kage demanded. He will become a jinchuriki as secretly as possible, the villagers will hopefully believe that the four tails perished with that poor girl."

The older woman sighed as she took her husband's hands.

"So we have no real choice do we?" She said softly watching as Renji shook his head silently.

"No, the only thing we can do is pray for our son's safety, pray that no matter what, he has something protecting him at all times."

The house was dark that evening as Renji crept into his son's room, he watched saddened as his four month old son lay quietly on his elder brother's chest, the older boy holding the younger one protectively as they both peacefully slept.

"I'm sorry Kaji, but it must be done." The older male said as he gently picked up his youngest son and walked from the room, leaving his eldest son behind. Mayumi watched from the window while her husband stole away into the night taking their son to his inevitable fate.

Many years later~~~

"Kaji! Roshi! It's time for breakfast come down stairs please!" Mayumi said as she called up to her children. Both boys trooped down the stairs, the now eight year old Roshi holding on tightly and laughing up a storm as his fifteen year old brother hopped down the stairs holding the younger boy on his back. Mayumi smiled as she watched her sons bound through the kitchen, the eldest finally depositing the youngest in his chair and ruffling his red hair before sitting at his own spot by the table.

The small family talked happily as they ate their breakfast, but the happy atmosphere was soon broken as a rock came bursting through the window sending shattered glass throughout the room. Kaji covered his brother protectively as he led him and his mother from the room, covering them both as other stones came crashing through the window. The sounds of villagers could be heard through the broken window, and as Mayumi led her youngest son from the room, her eldest son exited the house to face the angry villagers who wanted nothing more than to destroy the jinchuriki that had taken so many of their family members in years past. Their father, the family's protector had long since passed away after losing his life in a long standing battle against a terminal sickness.

"Oka-san, what's happening? Why don't they like Kaji? Why do they want to hurt him?" Roshi asked, holding his mother tightly as they huddled in the closet.

"Their ignorant people baby, they fear what's different from them." Mayumi said softly as she held her trembling son stroking his hair softly.

"Is Big brother different like me Oka-san?" The child asked quietly earning his mother's curiosity.

"What makes you ask that? You are no different from anybody else Roshi."

"So you and Kaji can hear the voice too Oka-san?" The boy asked excitedly. Now his mother looked down at her son in concern.

"Why don't you tell me about the voice honey?" Mayumi said in a cheerful voice as her son began talking.

"Get out of here you monster!"

"You beast!"

"You're poisoning our village!"

"Somebody kill it!"

"Cleanse our village with your death you monster!"

"Demon!"

"Do us a favor and die!" The teenage boy simply curled up and took the abuse from the villagers. Never would he ever allow his little brother to be subjected to such abuse, no child deserved this, even if it meant random beatings from the villagers, Kaji didn't care as long as it meant his brother being safe from harm. After twenty minutes or so, the boy blacked out from the pain of yet another beating from the villagers.

When he awoke he was lying on his bed with his mother hovering over him worriedly.

"Oh thank goodness! Kaji you're finally awake I was so worried!" his mother said, relief evident in her voice as she rinsed out the cloth on his forehead and replacing it.

"Where's Roshi?" he asked groggily as he pushed the cloth from his forehead and tried sitting up only to receive the stabbing pain of broken ribs wrenching into his side.

"He's safe so please lay back down and get some rest, you know he won't like seeing you like this." Kaji simply waved his hand dismissively as he sat farther up, taking note of his bandaged side and throbbing head.

"How long have I been out?" he asked watching as Mayumi cringed at the question.

"About three days or so, I was so worried about you, you know."

"Sorry Ka-san." He said as he ruefully rubbed the back of his head. That had by far been the worst beating yet. He was roused from his thoughts when his mother spoke again.

"Did Roshi tell you about the voice Kaji?" she asked worriedly, this earned his full attention.

"What do you mean 'voice'?" he asked in confusion. Could it be the same voice Aya had often told him about when he was younger?

"He said a voice inside talks to him, is it his biju Kaji? Did Aya talk to her demon?"

"Go get him for me Oka-san? I want to talk to him alone if you don't mind." The red haired woman nodded as she stood and walked to the door.

"You'll tell me what he says right?"

"I always do." he said with a nod watching as his mother left the room, only to return moments later with Roshi.

"Brother! You woke up! Are you ok? Did they hurt you? Why do they do that?" The small boy asked as he climbed onto his big brother's lap.

"I'm fine, they hurt me a bit but I'm fine." He said ruffling the boy's hair.

"But brother why do they do that! You don't do bad things and hitting's bad so why do they hit you?" The bright eyed child asked as he looked at his older brother, curiosity and sadness burning in his eyes. Kaji sighed, stuff like this should have been their father's job, not his, but unfortunately that job had passed to Kaji five years earlier when Renji passed away.

"Instead of me answering all the questions, how about I ask some?" he said with a smile watching as his little brother nodded enthusiastically. "Have you been talking to someone new lately?"

"Yeah! His name's Son-kun! that's what he said to call him. Does he talk to you brother?"

'So it is the Yonbi. Knowing that makes it a bit easier...'

"Nah, we don't talk much, but he was once friends with my best friend Aya, is he talking to you now?" he asked looking at the boy who by now had made himself comfortable on the bed.

"Yeah, he said that he knew Aya really well." Kaji nodded, that was of course the expected answer. "He said that he knows you too brother. Ah-!" The boy clenched his head and squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

"Roshi what's wrong!" Kaji asked holding his brother up by his shoulders as the six year old trembled.

"My head hurts!" he whined. Suddenly the room was silent, and when Roshi lifted his head and faced his brother, Kaji was met with an unexpected shock. Roshi's normally brown eyes were glowing green, and his brother spoke with an eerily familiar voice.

**"Kaji-kun, nice to see you again. Though I must say it's quite strange for you to befriend both of my hosts."**

"Aya was my friend and a good person, and your current host is my brother." The demon shook the younger boy's head in understanding.

**"You have something in you Kaji. There is something in you that pulls us towards each other you know. You fight fiercely to protect those you hold close, Aya was a prime example."**

"Don't bring her up, if I was as fierce and as protective as you believe she'd still be alive." Kaji said softly, his bangs hanging in his eyes.

**"Boy, you can no longer punish yourself for past mistakes, you were not but a child, now you are a young man and you have protected my host time and time again by claiming to be the very creature they despise and hate. You are loyal to those to whom you care deeply for. You protect those who cannot protect themselves, and to be honest, your past actions have earned my utmost respect. I wish to repay you, but know not how to do so." **Kaji stared in shock, the four tailed demon wanted to repay him? The very same person who let his previous host meet her demise? Why?

"You wish to repay me? Keep my brother safe when I've gone. The villagers think that I am your host, my brother has been saved from their wrath and mindless anger. All I ask of you is to be sure he stays protected. I don't know when I'm leaving my home, but I know it will happen in the next five years. When Roshi is old enough to understand what I'm going to do, that's when I'll leave. When that time comes, I want you to explain to Roshi exactly why I'm doing this, let him know that I love him, and that I care for him, but it's for the good of everybody."

**"So you're going to play martyr?" **The Yonbi asked. Kaji shook his head.

"No, I'm going to go off and die somewhere after they've tried once again to kill me. I'll sneak out of our little village and probably head to the land of fire, some place prosperous where I won't be recognized or expect to end up. I'll let my mother know what I'm planning, and I'm hoping she'll tell Roshi...or you can tell him Son-sama. I just don't want him to know until it happens, the villagers know were family so they might try and hurt me through him."

**"I understand...that's quite noble of you. Foolish, but noble. I'll do my part, and once I decide how to properly repay you, I'll help you disappear."**

"Thank you." Kaji said with an awkward bow as he sat on the bed facing his brother, who's eyes slowly began losing their green glow and turned back to their chocolatey brown.

"So how well does the Yonbi know me Otouto?" the small boy looked up in confusion, and he had a feeling that he'd been gone for quite a while... If something happened, Kaji wasn't going to mention it. Obviously his elder brother wasn't hurt, so maybe nothing did happen... Roshi told his brother all about the 'voice' Son-san... he would talk about a blonde girl (Aya) and how they were good friends before Son-san found Roshi. They spoke late into the night until Roshi eventually fell asleep next to his brother.

Kaji and his mother spoke that night and he told the worried woman of what he'd been told by his brother and what the Yonbi himself told him. Mayumi visibly relaxed upon hearing the news, Many Jinchuriki would have bad reactions to their seals when the demon was fully released into the host's body, she had feared that the demon would hurt her youngest son, a fear like that was not completely unfounded. When he was alive, her husband Renji had been incredible with seals, he was the most versed in the art in their entire village, and before he passed he had warned his wife and son the dangers of an incompatible seal on the human body.

Roshi's seal was designed to completely seal the demon in the beginning and to slowly release it throughout the boy's life so it wouldn't cause trauma to his chakra system. Once the Yonbi was completely released into Roshi's body, the demon would be able to communicate with his host, and the host would be able to access the Biju's chakra. The seal would create a complete symbiotic relationship between the two living creatures. Any defaults in the seals would make Roshi unbalanced, prone to mood swings, and could possibly become violent, previous jinchuriki were testament to that.

Kaji watched as his brother aged, and as the years passed the time for his plan arrived much earlier than he expected. Not two years later the time had finally come. Kaji had moved from his mother's house and was living on his own, but once the villagers found out who exactly lived in his apartment, they weren't happy. The young man woke to find thick smoke in his apartment as flames licked the walls, scorching them black with soot and ash. He escaped with relative ease from the burning building, and once it burnt to the ground, the villagers could be heard cheering and applauding the destruction of the tailed beast. After making his way back to his old home, Kaji bid his mother farewell and left a letter for his sleeping brother before sneaking from the village, however he didn't make it far before a familiar form stopped him.

**"So tonight is the night you have chosen?"** Kaji turned to see his brother, his brown eyes glowing green, proof of the Yonbi's control.

"No I did not choose tonight, but there was no better opportunity then now."

**"Very well then, as a reward for serving, honoring and protecting my past hosts to the best of your ability I bestow upon you some of my power. You know the pain of a suffering jinchuriki all too well, so you can empathize with their suffering. While all villages are different, the way they treat their jinchuriki has not changed. With these powers go forth and bring change for those suffering unjustly."** The Yonbi said raising his host's hand as green chakra began forming in the palm. Slowly it moved forward and seemingly melted into the older boy's chest. Once it did, Kaji could feel an immense feeling of pressure before it slowly ebbed away. Then suddenly he felt it, something or, somethings were tugging at him from various directions.

**"Can you feel it? The tugging sensations? Those tugs you feel are other jinchuriki and their bijus, it should feel kind of like a magnetic attraction. Jinchurikis will be the easiest to detect, pseudo jinchuriki will have a different feel to them, and the harder the tugging sensation the more powerful they are. Sooner or later you'll soon understand the distinct differences between each tailed beast. It's like chakra familiarity, you are familiar with the chakra of your friends and family, soon you will be familiar with the chakras from the other eight jinchuriki. Good luck friend of the Bijus I'll explain to Roshi in due time."**

With a bow to each other the two walked in opposite directions, one masking his host's chakra while entering a celebrating village, and the other masking his chakra while running through the forest, heading towards the most prominent chakra sensation, his direction led him to the hidden mist village. Kaji traveled the other countries for six years before finally settling in the hidden leaf village.

As he walked through the gates of Konoha Kaji was pulled through the village by an invisible string (not really but do you see where I'm going with this?) and was led to a training ground. Whoever he was looking for, whatever jinchuriki was here was close by. He gazed around before finding a young woman with red hair so long that it almost reached the ground fighting a young blonde man. Weather they were sparring or having a fight to the death was hard to tell, but the smile the blonde wore as he vanished in a flash was enough to cement into Kaji's mind that they were only sparring, which he found to be a relief.

"MINATO! Get back here you coward I was going to win!" The red head roared as she spun around looking for her now long gone opponent. She stopped however when her gaze landed on the only other person in the vicinity, then she glared at him.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" she said, not losing her fighting stance from her previous battle. Kaji held up his hands in pacification.

"Easy, I'm not here to fight if that's what you think. I was led here by forces only you and a handful of others could possibly understand." He watched as the girl's eyes narrowed in confusion and curiosity.

"What do you mean? What 'forces' and what makes you think that I of all the people in Konoha would be the one to understand them?" she asked still eyeing Kaji warily.

"How can I put this...I'm able to detect your 'tenant' if you catch my drift."

"What?" The girl said in alarm now brandishing her kunai.

"Relax, I won't tell anyone anything. But for now let me talk, and if you don't like what I have to say I'll leave and never bother you again. OK? My name is Kaji by the way, and you are?"

Reluctantly the girl responded.

"I'm Kushina, Uzumaki Kushina." Kaji nodded and sat down.

"Alright Kushina-san, let me begin by telling you why I am the way I am..."

**End Flashback**

"It didn't take long for us to become good friends, and in fact had it not been for Kushina I would have never met Koori, she introduced us. A year later the nine tails wreaked havoc on the village, I was fortunate enough to once again be traveling to other lands. I was in Suna at the time, after following the aura of a new jinchuriki I met with the advisers of the Kazekage and was told that the new host was an infant not even a year old. However on my return I felt the immense flare of the nine tails chakra and raced back to Konoha, which by then had become like a home to me, only to find it in dismal condition. Most of my friends were dead or missing, including Kushina and Minato.

After finding Koori we decided that if our lives could end as suddenly as those of our friends we wanted to feel fulfilled when the time came, so we married immediately. Two years later we were visited by Koori's sister Naomi who was pregnant and very ill. We nursed her back to health as best as we could, and when she finally had her child she begged us to care for her, and we agreed. Koori quit her life as a ninja and took to making medicines and would help me grow and dry medicinal herbs. As our niece grew I could feel something familiar about this girl's chakra. It is the same as my brother's. Nia, your father is my younger brother Roshi, you are a child of a jinchuriki and because of that you have some of the Yonbi's powerful chakra. You, my niece are a pseudo jinchuriki. That is why your chakra is dark green, though you look just like your mother, I see so much of my brother in you, especially your eyes, they look just like his." The group stared in an awed silence.

"I'm a pseudo jinchuriki? I have demonic chakra inside me?" Nia asked quietly as the shock of her uncle's story finally hit her.

'What will people think of me? My sensei, my teammates, Gaara...GAARA! He's a jinchuriki, but what will he think of me now?' Turning her head, Nia noticed a gentle hand on her shoulder and turned to face the owner as he wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Gaara?"

"You are still you Nia, you're the same person you've been all your life. You are no different now." he said pulling her into a hug.

"You really think that?" she asked thickly through her tears as she held him tightly. "I'm no different to you? No different from before?"

"Not at all, you're exactly the same person who accepted me when no one else could. You're you Nia." he said giving her one of his rare smiles as she pulled away and took a step back.

"Thank you."

"It has been sealed away since you were a small child, the only telltale sign is the color of your chakra. Once we were positive, we sealed the demon's chakra. If you wish we can unseal you, or we can alter the seal and make it act as a limiter so if you choose to use whatever amount of the Yonbi's chakras you possess, you can."

Nia looked dumbfounded.

"I- I don't know…" Koori took her nieces hand.

"Nia were not pressuring you into anything, it is your choice and yours alone, If you want to stay as you are you can and we're all ok with that. But if you want to use the Yonbi's chakra we're ok with that also, you'd only need more training to control the extra chakra."

Gaara wondered what she would do, she was always wondering if she had gotten stronger, and now as if by magic the girl was being offered powers and abilities bigger than her wildest dreams.

"No, I did not earn this power so I don't deserve it, just because I was born with it doesn't mean I have the right to use it carelessly. So my answer is no. I will train, and train until I earn this power."

"I'm proud of you for taking such a grown up view on this Nia." The brunette looked up at the Hokage.

"I may be young Hokage-sama, but I'm no child. This is why I'd like to request your permission to leave the village. I want to find my father."

"What! Nia you just got back!" Koori gasped. "It's far too soon for you to go out on such an extended trip. You don't even know if you can find him!" Gaara found himself agreeing with Koori, Nia hadn't even given herself any time to recover from what Orochimaru put her through and she wanted to leave the village again? Luckily Tsunade was the voice of reason.

"Nia, you've just returned from a harrowing ordeal, give yourself time to recover mentally and physically before you even consider leaving this village once again. I'm going to deny your request. When you're healthy then we'll talk, but not now."

"But if I can learn anything from my father- "

"Nia, listen to the Hokage, she's right. It's too soon, you could barely keep yourself conscious when I brought you back give yourself time to heal." Nia looked to Gaara with pleading eyes. He stared back at her, his eyes clearly saying.

'I'm not changing my mind.' Finally she gave in as she leaned against the chair, holding it tightly.

"Alright, but once I get healthy, I'd like to go." She said weakly blinking several times. Tsunade nodded.

"We'll discuss it when the time comes." Gaara looked at her curiously, something was off.

"Are you ok Nia?"

"Yeah…everything's just…"before she could finish her sentence, the girl collapsed, and just as she was about to hit the floor, Gaara's sand cushioned her fall. Gaara watched as Tsunade and Nia's aunt and uncle rushed over, and after some poking and prodding, the sannin decided to hospitalize the brunette due to exhaustion. As the three adults took Nia to the hospital, Gaara went to inform his siblings of the recent events that just occurred.

**Hmmm, an update after so long…I do indeed apologize._ I don't blame you guys if you plan to harpoon me or something, but I'll keep updating I promise! ^_^ I never abandon a story, know this people!**

**Hyuga 09, nikki**


	24. Surprising news

A Tough life

Chapter 23

Surprising news

Gaara sat on the roof of the hospital staring at the moon, visiting hours had long since passed. He was actually happy here, sure he was due to be made into acting Kazekage in a week, but he was in no real hurry to leave Konoha, it was as if something was calling for him to stay…or calling him to bring it along. It really wasn't a feeling Gaara fully understood. He knew it involved Nia, that was for sure, when she was missing from Konoha, the village of the hidden leaves had seemingly lost its spark of appeal for him.

"**I'm bored….bored, bored, bored, bored…." **Gaara tuned out his inner demon, although she had gotten far less aggressive since being properly sealed, she could be quite annoying with a full night's sleep.

"Will you be quiet?"

"**But I'm Bbbooorrreeeddddd! … Gaaaarrrraaaaa! Can we go visit Bug?"**

'What? Why do you- She's not a bug! Besides she's probably asleep anyways.'

"**Nope, she's wide awake looking out the window. If you don't believe me look over the edge."**

Gaara walked over to the edge of the roof and glanced over, immediately noticing moonlit brown hair below him. Using his sand he created a path from the window to the roof and watched as Nia made her way out of the window and towards the roof.

"What're you doing up Gaara-kun?" Nia asked as she stepped onto the roof.

"Looking at the moon, ignoring Shukaku, the usual." Nia was surprised, in the time they had spent together, Gaara rarely brought up the one tails.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you and Shukaku converse often enough to the point where you have to ignore her?" Gaara thought about it for a moment.

"She's bored, and when she's bored she gets whiny."

"Kind of like Naruto?" Nia asked, sitting down next to the quiet red head.

"Yeah." He said with a soft barely visible smile.

"Well why don't we go do something? I was in for exhaustion, not broken limbs, so as long as I'm back before the morning check in I won't get in trouble." She said with a smile so contagious that even Gaara smiled a bit.

"So…?"

"Don't worry, I've got the perfect place in mind. Let's go!" She said dashing off laughing as she jumped from the roof, and bound from tree to tree, the wind blowing her wavy hair behind her.

"I missed this so much!" The girl said happily as she turned to look at Gaara as they ran. "I missed being able to run freely where ever I wanted, I missed food too." Slowly Konoha's village turned into more forest, until they were running up one of the largest trees Gaara had ever seen. Nia was standing at the very top of the tree panting heavily when Gaara made it to the top.

"Are you ok?" Nia looked over slightly annoyed.

"I'm fine, it's just being cooped up for so long like that without training kind of messes you up, ya know? I just…I'm so happy to be home." Gaara looked over at the moonlit girl, Nia wouldn't look at him, and he had a feeling she was crying. "Thank you Gaara for bringing me home, back to my aunt, and uncle…back to you." Nia turned to meet his gaze with glistening eyes. "I love my family to death, and the thought of never seeing them again terrified me…but…But the thought of never seeing you again scared me even more than that. After everything they put me through it was so hard to hold on. But I knew one way or another…" Gaara watched as a shining tear slowly made its way down her cheek. "I knew you'd be the one who would find me, I knew because I could feel it in my heart…" Nia scratched her cheek and looked at her tear stained fingers in surprised confusion before hurriedly wiping her face dry. "I'm sorry, I didn't even notice… I must be some kind of fool huh?" She said with a noticeably forced laugh. Gaara wanted to say something, to let her know that she wasn't a fool, to let her know that the same thought scared him as much as it scared her, but he just couldn't speak. It was as if his throat was being constricted.

"**You really shouldn't have so much trouble trying to say something you know. Hell, you've fought and killed, you should be able to speak to Bug without a problem Sissy."**

'You really think I'm having trouble talking intentionally! Shut up!'

"**I can always help you ya know. You're feeling a lot of emotions, that's why it's so tough to talk."**

'Tell me something I don't know…Damn it, say something!'

"**Something."**

'Not YOU, me!' Shukaku stuck her tongue out childishly at her container in retaliation.

"I…I'm in love with you." Startled sea foam eyes looked into equally startled Brown ones. Nia blinked several times stunned by the words which were ringing in the silence.

"W-what?" Gaara swallowed thickly.

"I said…I'm in love with you." The red head said softly. Nia walked closer to Gaara and looked at him before wrapping her arms around him, pulling the soon to be kage into a tight hug.

"I…I'm in love with you too. I've always felt that you were someone special Gaara-kun." She felt Gaara wrap his arms around her holding her close. He rested his chin on her head. Neither had forgotten their kiss on the cliff side in Suna.

"What do we do about this? I'm going to be the Kazekage, I won't be able to come by whenever I feel like it any more. And I might be too busy whenever you come to Suna. What do we do?" It tore apart Nia's heart to hear these words, as much as she didn't want to admit it, Gaara was right. He was going to be the Kage of a different nation, and she was a mere Chunin. There was nothing they could do; it seemed that theirs was a love that was better off unmentioned, and unacknowledged. However it was mentioned and it was acknowledged, and now all it caused was bitter sweet pain. Sweet because the feelings were mutual, but bitter because soon neither would be able to act on them for there would be no time to.

"We do…whatever it takes to make this work. Because we can make anything work if we try hard enough, together we can do anything, we just have to work for it."

"Do you remember that time when we watched the sunset in Suna?"

"Yeah." The brunette said as she pulled back slightly leaning her head upwards to catch his kiss.

'I have no Idea how we'll manage this, but we will, I promise you we will.'

"I promise we'll make this work, I promise." The sky was growing lighter, and they both knew their time together was almost up, yet neither parted from the other's embrace. Sand slowly began to swirl around the couple, until finally it stopped, instead of being in the forest they were now in Nia's hospital room.

"We'll find a way to make this work somehow, I promise too." Gaara nodded at Nia's words. After a kiss good bye he vanished into thin air, and when he reappeared he was half way to Suna. He didn't want to be there yet; He wanted solitude in the desert before he returned to the desert village.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o

Months had passed since their moonlit meeting in the forest, Nia had returned to active duty, but was restricted to C and D rank missions. Gaara on the other hand had taken to being a Kage faster than most expected. This morning was like no other for the past months, he would simply sit in his office working on papers, then he would have meetings in his office, after that he would go to the elders and discuss with them politics and new regulations and laws for the village, after that he would return to his office only to be met once again by mountains of paperwork. Then he would read mission reports, chose mission rankings and finally send teams out on missions….all before noon. Temari would often help Gaara set mission rankings, with him being so strong and always protected by Shukaku, he wasn't the best at setting the levels at first. In no time though he was a pro at it.

Gaara sat in his chair facing out the window, it was moments like this that he was happy he could go without sleep for long periods of time; he had worked throughout the night to finally catch up on paperwork from the temporary Kazekage. After countless hours he was officially done…at least until the secretary came in with more. Now he understood why Tsunade would drink when she was handed an abnormally large stack of papers. With this little reprieve Gaara closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift off to a wavy haired brunette in Konoha.

O0o0o0o0o0

Nia sneezed as she worked in the dark humid room, this area of their house was where some of the rarest and finicky plants were grown. These ones in particular thrived in darkness, Konoha's shadow vine was an especially rare plant usually found in caves. The leaves were very small, no larger than her thumb if you were to start from the tip and go to the first knuckle, but extremely potent, the vine however was poisonous; both had their uses. Leaves were used in medicines to stop bleeding, vines were used to kill. Both could be used either dried or fresh and were in high demand for an especially steep price due to the rarity. Once the leaves were carefully harvested and placed into their special bags, Nia moved the blackout curtains in front of the plants before opening the door a fraction and slipping out. After thoroughly washing her hands, Nia moved on to the other plants on her list. She stepped into another room in the basement, this one was well lit, and scorching hot with very little humidity. The bright lights easily allowed the girl to hone in on her next plant victim. Desert hemlock, another poisonous plant. The purple flowers were beautiful and held little risk, though toxic they wouldn't kill. The root on the other hand was deadly.

After collecting the hemlock roots she left the desert like room and entered the cool of the basement once again. Four more plants were on the list, and based on how potent all the ingredients were, Nia knew what she was supposed to make, it was an assassin's ultimate weapon. This poison would quickly render the victim immobile, then it would attack the nerves making them unable to call out for help, the poisons which would enter through the blood stream would quickly affect the brain and heart, and the outcomes differed on where it hit first. If the heart was the first to be affected then the victim would suffer from the paralysis effects of the poison and their heart would simply stop beating. If the poison reached the brain first it would cause a total body shutdown. Neither was a pleasant way to die. This poison, which remained unnamed was of Nia's creation, and only she would make it, and only she had the antidote for it. When it was requested, she made it and applied it to the weapons, giving only enough of the antidote to the person to stave off death for 48 hours, enough time to get back to Konoha, or enough time for her to meet the person outside of the village. She was very secretive about her creations.

Koori and Kaji rarely let Nia work down in the basement due to the dangerous and poisonous plants that were grown there, neither felt comfortable with their niece handling such potent poisons. Nia however had created several un thought of poisons and antidotes, and soon enough her knowledge of poisons and their antidotes were rivaling Shizune's, and the former couldn't be more proud.

Sitting at the table Nia went through the process of making her signature poison, gently scraping the flesh from the leaves and roots, placing the skins in a hot plate letting it release its liquids and oils, squeezing the juices from the vine, adding in several drops of scorpion's venom, slowly and carefully combining the toxic chemicals, stirring just enough to mix it without adding air bubbles. Finally she let the heated leaf and root juice cocktail juices cool before mixing in the vine drippings and venom. The scorpion venom had no real effect on the victim, but it did fool the medic, being a well-known toxin, the scorpion venom would show up on toxin screens, and medics would recognize it easily, then they'd spend most of their time trying to heal the venom from the arachnid, not knowing that it was in fact the combination of the plants that was slowly killing their comrade. Taking several black senbon needles, Nia coated just the tips with a drop of the potent poison and allowed them to dry before capping the tips in plastic for the user's protection. The poison was so damaging that it would bleach the tips of the senbon white. The village assassins soon dubbed the signature senbon the touch of death. No one knew that the village's most deadly toxin was the concoction of a 14 year old girl, the only ones aware were her aunt uncle and Tsunade.

After packing her senbon in a small case, Nia pocketed them and walked to the Hokage tower. It was a beautiful day, and as she stared up into the sky, the brunette couldn't help but let her thoughts be drawn to a red haired sand ninja.

O0o0o0o0o0

Really, Gaara was not a fan of paper work, sure he had patience, just not for this. Deciding to take a break he formed a sand clone and left it at his desk as he walked to the roof of the Kage building. The sun was high in the sky, and the wind blew lazily. Moments later a huge gust could be felt in the opposite direction. Gaara knew that Temari was pissed about something, it was probably Kankuro or something like that.

"Gaara!"

'Or not.' "Yes Temari, what's wrong?" The blonde looked more than annoyed.

"Our ambassador to leaf got into more trouble than he's worth, he's been officially kicked from the village, and with this rap sheet it seems like he should be kicked from ours too." Temari said handing her brother the scroll that came with the former ambassadors dismissal. Gaara scanned the sheet and more than once his eyes widened as he read something.

"I'm surprised Tsunade hasn't killed him yet, does he think we won't?"

"I don't know what's up with that guy, but we need a new ambassador. There's a specific section of that scroll that's sealed, only you can open it. Maybe they have a suggestion on who the next one should be?" Temari said as she turned to walk away. Gaara unsealed the rest of the scroll and quickly read. Temari was right, inside was a list of people who would be most properly suited to be ambassador from Suna, and Konoha. Sea green eyes ran down the list then froze on a single name in particular on the Konoha side. Maybe he wouldn't have to wait as long as he thought he would to see Nia…His eyes scanned along the Suna side and landed on his sister's name.

'Temari as an ambassador? That could work, at least I'd be confident in my choice and I'd know she wouldn't do anything stupid. She seems to like Konoha a bit too. We'll talk about it.'

Gaara hopped from the roof of the building and landed softly on the ground below as he headed towards the falconry, there were a few things he wanted to send to Konoha.

O0o0o0o0

Temari sat in Gaara's office watching the clone work with great efficiency. Honestly she was surprised that Tsunade hadn't thought about doing this, oh well. Temari had been a Jonin for several months now, almost a year in fact, and it was around that time where Jonin were given Genin to train, and the blonde was willing to do anything to get out of that. She didn't mind kids as long as she could get rid of them at the end of the day, and training Genin did not promise that, they'd be around her all day every day, and all night on missions. Temari didn't want to deal with that at the moment, maybe now that the Ambassador totally screwed up, she could get the position, surely they couldn't give Genin to a Jonin who'd be out of the village for months at a time…then again Gaara might just to spite her.

Kankuro definitely was not getting any Genin any time soon. He'd corrupt them. The last thing Suna needed was mini Kankuros running around. He'd corrupt the kids, the kids would corrupt each other, and the next thing you know there's a mass epidemic of stupidity spreading like a plague across Suna. The thought made Temari shudder as she sat in the chair. She watched as the clone in the chair slowly began to crumble away, and in moments Gaara walked into the room and sat in his chair facing his sister.

"Konoha has several Suna Jonin on a list of possible Ambassadors, you're on the list-

"I accept!"

"What?" Gaara was surprised, he'd thought it would take more persuasion on his side.

"I said I accept. I'd rather not train any genin any time soon, no thanks. So when do I start?" Gaara was silent for a few minutes before he responded.

"When Konoha decides their new ambassador, we'll send them across the border at the same time. Konoha has several choices as well." Temari's eyes lit up.

"Really? Who?"

"Aburame Shino, Tenten, Maiumi Yusura, Nia, Raizo Hyuga, and Shikamaru Nara."

"Pick Nia! Wait, don't pick Nia! Who will I hang out with if you pick Nia?"

"Temari I don't pick the Konoha ambassador, Tsunade does." Temari sighed.

"Fine, I'll still go though. I honestly don't feel like teaching a bunch of bratty Genin." Gaara nodded.

"**Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the famous game of Infuriate the fan wielding kunoichi! I'm Shukaku, your hostess, and today's guest is Gaara, say hello!" **Shukaku said pulling Gaara's subconscious body over next to her and shoving the 'microphone' to his mouth.

'Hi? Is that a hair brush?'

"**Shut up! Ahem… Today's game involves button pushing folks, the previous record is in twenty seconds, let's see how long today takes! Gaara do your worst!"**

"I'll have you set up to teach a class at the Konoha academy then." Temari's mouth opened in shock.

"**New RECORD! DING DING DING! We have a new record of a whopping total of three seconds! How does that make you feel Gaara?"**

'Very accomplished Shukaku.' He said speaking into the brush.

"**Shhh, here comes the reaction in three…two…one-**

"WHAT!"

"**Direct hit to the shocker button Gaara, what was your strategy?"**

'Hmm, I'd have to say using shocking information, something she wouldn't expect.'

"**Nicely done. Now folks, this round involves reasoning skills to avoid A) a verbal bashing which entails a quick escape, B)Wind mauling with minor injuries, or C) only in Kankuro's case a near death experience. Let us see how well Gaara can reason his way to safety!"**

"You didn't want to teach Genin, you said so yourself, so you'll be teaching academy students then."

"**Ooh, he's using the 'Prod the bear in the eye with a stick' method, let us watch the outcome."**

"That's the same thing!" Temari snapped, her grip tightening on her fan. Gaara loved poking Temari's buttons, but this was getting dangerous even for him.

"**Gaara's left with two options now that Temari is in rage mode, Fight or flee…please for the love of Suna Gaara, FLEE!"**

"Well, I'm officially finished with Kazekage duties for the day, good evening." He said vanishing in a cloud of sand before his sister could react. Oh he knew she'd hunt him down, she always did. It was still worth it though.

"**Oh, that was definitely worth it."**

'Are you really that bored that you needed to pretend that my head's a game show?'

"**Yep, you're the special guest."** Gaara simply nodded…sadly enough this happened more times than one would think so he was used to it by now.

"GAARA!" Said red head could hear his sister's scream echo across Suna. Now more than ever was he happy that he decided to have Temari go to Konoha. This wouldn't save him from death glares at dinner though, however if he played his cards right, he might just get a show with dinner, especially if Kankuro was in a pestering mood. With that thought and a very rare air of mischievousness, Gaara went to look for his brother.

O0o0o0o0o0

"You brought the special product I see Nia!"

"Yes Tsunade-sama." The brunette said handing over the package of special senbon.

"Very good. I'd like to speak with you Nia, I know you're still adamant on going to find your father. I've thought about this for quite some time, and I've decided to grant you your request only if you're able to complete your next mission. It's going to take a few months if you accept. I want you to be the Ambassador for Konoha and Suna." Nia looked at the Hokage in shock.

"But…why me?"

"Why not? You're a loyal Konoha Shinobi, you get along famously with everyone and you have an uncanny ability to diffuse confrontational situations. You're the perfect Ambassador. Besides training in the desert for a few months can only make you stronger right? You'll be back and heading out with your uncle in six months' time, I promise." Nia nodded.

"Ok, I'll do it. I won't let you down Lady Tsunade. When am I to leave?"

"Three days, I'll be sending the falcon to Suna any moment to let the Kazekage know who to expect. I would suggest packing light. I'll give you some funds for a place and clothes for that area, it's much hotter there as you know so you'll need every day clothes. I'm sure they can get you well acclimated." Nia nodded as she was dismissed from the room, it wasn't until she left the Hokage's tower that she broke out into a huge grin. She was going to see Gaara much sooner than she thought, and she couldn't wait. Hurrying home she packed what she needed and went to the drying room to swap out the dried herbs for fresh ones. She might as well so some kind of busy work to pass the time.

**Thanks for reading the chapter, I've decided to write shorter chapters rather than longer ones, the thoughts flow easeir that way, plus the chapters get out faster. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'd love it if you guys would review every now and then, it lets me know you like my story, ya know? Anyways, Later!**


	25. After we kill him, we go to Karaoke

A Tough life

Chapter 24

You're So Gonna Get It….then we'll go to Karaoke after

Gaara had sent the letter to the Hokage informing her to expect his sister as their Ambassador, in return he had received a letter from Tsunade informing Gaara to expect Nia as the Ambassador from Konoha. The two ambassadors would be returning together to Suna, the former Suna Ambassador, and the newest Konoha Ambassador. This had the Kazekage worried, but he was sure that everything would be fine, after all that fool would be hard pressed to find a bar in the middle of a desert.

O0o0o0o0o0

Nia glanced over at the older man next to her in disgust, he reeked of alcohol and it didn't help that his travel pack was stuffed with bottles of Konoha's strongest sake and he was chugging it as he walked beside her. She had been smelling the scent of alcohol for more than a day now and was quite frankly sick of it. He was an older man with greying black hair, he had probably once been a ninja if the scars on his arms were proof of anything.

"Heeeyyy pretty lady, wanna sip?" he asked shoving the bottle in her face for the umpteenth time.

"I think you've had enough." Nia said pushing the bottle away.

"Aww, come on girlie what's wrong with having some fun? It's just sake, it won't kill ya." He said taking another swig. Nia simply shook her head; Tsunade had filled her in on some of the things her travel partner had done while he'd been in Konoha.

_Flashback_

"_Oh, before you go I want to tell you that you'll be escorting the former Sunagakure ambassador. I just want to warn you that he's developed a bit of a drinking problem." Nia didn't like the sound of this, not the way Tsunade said it._

"_Lady Tsunade, you say that you don't have a drinking problem, how bad off is this guy?"_

"_Well…yeah…" the brunette simply stared. That was all she was going to get from the Hokage? A simple 'well yeah'?_

"_I'll take that as totally sloshed then. I thought he was going to be here for a few more months, why's he being removed from his post?"_

"_There's quite a list to be honest…There's public endangerment, drunken and disorderly conduct, indecent exposure-"_

"_Excuse me! I'm not walking alone with some drunken pervert!"_

"_He stripped completely naked and swam in the fountain in the center of the village…then there's the fact that due to his drunkenness he became a public menace, he tried going into the wrong hotel room so he broke into someone else's room and threw them out, so breaking and entering, and assault, he went to the hospital and goosed the nurses and just now he slapped Shizune's bottom…That's half a page…." Nia looked at the Hokage warily._

"_How many pages of his indiscretions are there?" Tsunade simply handed her a stack of twenty pages. _

"_All these…"_

"_Oh geeze. Fine I'll escort him, but if he tries ANYTHING I'm poking him with my senbon."_

"_I'm sure Gaara wouldn't object, especially if you have the antidote."_

"_I might have to misplace it for the duration of the trip."_

_End flashback_

"Hey! You listenin' to me!" The man slurred.

"Not really, I'm not your baby sitter, I'm the next ambassador."

"Feh, Ambassador duties suck."

"Well it is a job, besides ambassadors get to work with the other nations Kage. I'll get to work with the Kazekage like how you worked with the Hokage." Now the man spat as he took another drink.

"I can't believe that bastard's the Kazekage. He's killed more villagers than enemies." This angered the brunette.

"Listen you, he's your Kage so you'd better respect him! He worked hard to get where he is today!"

"HA" he scoffed "That beast deserves none of his glory!" In one swift motion Nia had knocked his feet from under him and had a kunai to his neck.

"Gaara deserves everything he's worked for, and I wouldn't be surprised if you're sent to jail for what you did in Konoha, don't you dare degrade him in front of me."

"Well aren't you a little fire cracker with that temper of yours." Just as fast as she had pinned him, Nia hit the ground, her own Kunai to her throat. "Let's get one thing straight little girl, he's a monster, he won't care if you live or die, he won't care if I kill you here and now, he certainly won't give a damn if I take you here and now and leave you naked and tied to that tree for any bandits and travelers that come along, and with the compromising position you're in I might just have to do that to teach a brat like you a lesson."

"Get off of me now." Nia bit out. If looks could kill he'd be dead and burning in hell right now.

"Whose gonna make me? You're quick to act, but lack the strength to do any real damage. You can't even get up right now."

"I SAID get off!" She gasped as the kunai pressed further against her neck, Nia felt the familiar stinging against her throat.

'This bastard cut me! He freekin' cut me!' Oddly now she couldn't help but laugh, and this stunned the man enough for Nia to knock him off and make him hit the ground.

"The hell you laughin' at?" Nia stood, her hand gently touching her neck, she could feel the wetness of the blood on her fingers, now she had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. "I SAID what the hell are you laughing at?" She smiled as slowly her eyes met the former ambassadors.

"It's amazing irony actually…" She said, gazing at her bloodied fingers. "The Kazekage whom you claim wouldn't care if you killed me here and now, is probably going to kill you for harming his closest friend. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, it might just happen this evening if we go at a steady pace. I'm not even worried about you now because you just signed your own death ticket." She said walking towards Suna passing the man who stood in angry shock.

"You lie!" Nia turned to look coldly at the man.

"If I lie, why do you look so nervous?" with that she continued on her way. She could sense the man following behind her, and eventually they finally made it into complete desert. Just before the sun set a figure could be seen heading towards them. Both coming from Konoha recognized her immediately.

"Nia!"

"Temari!" The two girls hugged, and the former ambassador bowed.

"Lady Temari!" The blonde simply inclined her head at the man and looked back to her friend, her eyes widening.

"What happened to your neck! Are you alright? Who did that? Did you guys run into some enemies?"

"Yes! We were attacked by rogues and-

"He cut me." Silence rang through the clearing as Temari looked at the man in shock. Then she looked back at Nia.

"Gaara's gonna be pissed." She said in a hushed voice. Nia however spoke nonchalantly as if she were simply conversing about new kunai and medical techniques.

"Well, according to this guy…" she said gesturing to the man before them. "Gaara won't...what was it now? Oh yes! 'Gaara won't give a damn if he takes me here and now and leaves me naked and tied to a tree for any bandits and travelers that come along.'" Oh yes Nia was beyond pissed and Temari could tell, it took a lot to get the normally pacifistic brunette this angry.

"Gaara's going to be beyond pissed Nia."

"I look forward to it. We have to go Temari, travel safely, a few more miles or so of traveling and you'll hit forest, see you in a couple of months."

"Bye Nia! You have four more miles until you hit Suna. You, I hope your death is quick." The man stood shell shocked as he watched the two women go off in opposite directions. He had a feeling that the girl wasn't lying when she said his days were numbered. He wasted no time in fishing out another bottle of Sake.

O0o0o0o0o0

Gaara was just finishing up some paper work when he sensed a familiar chakra enter the village, he smiled softly and made his way to the gate. For now his work could wait. The walk to the entrance was short and took mere moments. When he arrived he could tell something was off, usually she'd come running up happily and hug him or at least she'd be smiling. Instead she simply walked under the beaming lights and waited for him to come to her, her arms folded across her chest, a clear sign of her annoyance.

Gaara walked over.

"What's wrong?" Nia simply tilted her head up revealing the slice along her neck, Gaara's eyes immediately narrowed along the bright red line.

"Who?" Again Nia stayed silent, but Gaara followed her gaze towards a drunken man sitting against a wall drinking bottle after bottle of Sake. A rope of sand snaked its way over to the man and in seconds it was dragging the screaming and flailing ambassador over to the pair under the light. Eventually he was hanging eye level with Gaara who glared angrily at him.

"If you ever touch her again I will make you suffer a completely agonizing death. For now you will be spared and placed into the jail house for your _many _indiscretions in Konoha." Gaara said simply motioning for two ANBU to take the captive man. In moments the he was released from the sand's grip and dropped into the waiting arms of the ANBU and was quickly whisked away.

"Are you alright, what happened?"

"He was talking poorly of you and I was not having any more it."

"Nia, you can't get angry because of people's ignorance. I've learned to accept that some people won't accept me and I'm ok with that. Don't let their words get to you." He said watching as she healed the slice on her neck.

"I know, and I'm sure we've had this conversation before Gaara-kun, but whether it's you degrading yourself or others talking poorly of you I will not have it."

"I'm well aware. Come, I'll bring you to where you'll be staying." Together they walked through the dark village of Suna until they came upon familiar lodgings. The Kazekage's mansion. Gaara led her inside and brought her to an empty room. "You'll be staying here if that's alright. If you need anything let me know, I'll be in the office."

"Thank you." Nia said smiling for the first time since she entered the desert village as Gaara pulled her into a hug. After giving him a kiss on the cheek, Gaara released her and made his way down the hall, Nia watching as he went. She made her way into the room and gazed longingly at the bed, but before she could flop on it comfortably, her gaze was drawn to the bathroom. As if in a trance the brunette made her way towards the shower…Water felt AMAZING, and never had she enjoyed a bath more.

O0o0o0o0o0

Temari finally made it to the village hidden in the leaves, and waiting for her was a familiar figure who sighed heavily when he saw her.

"I'm supposed to be escorting you? Troublesome…Fine let's get this over with." Shikamaru Nara, the shadow ninja walked down the street, the sand kunoichi following behind.

"Nice to see you too Cry Baby." She huffed. Theirs was an unusual relationship. They weren't friends, but they weren't enemies. They got along, but annoyed each other, not to mention they were complete opposites. Both were sharp minded, and even though Temari would NEVER admit it out loud, she could sense the attraction between them. It was something she enjoyed and hated, enjoyment came when she could push his buttons, anger and annoyance came when he pushed hers. In no time they made it to the Hokage's tower, and after a very short conversation with Tsunade, Temari was led to the ambassador's quarters where they found the room to be in complete shambles.

"Looks like you'll be living outside."

"Bite me Nara."

"Don't tempt me. But all kidding aside you seem to be in a tough spot here."

"Not really, I've got a place I can stay, besides as much as it would annoy the hell out of me I can always clean this place up…or I could hire some Genin to get it done. Any ways, I'm outta here." Temari said as she walked from the wrecked apartment. She could always go to Nia's Aunt and Uncle's house, they were always accepting of the Sabaku siblings.

"Hey!" Temari stopped and gave Shikamaru a flat look.

"What?"

"It's troublesome but…I guess you can stay in my clan's home until your apartment's fixed. My mom keeps asking about you…so why not?" It took Temari less than a moment to answer.

"Not a chance in hell Nara."

"Troublesome woman. Fine find your own place."

"Is Crybaby gonna cry because I won't have a sleepover with him?" Temari asked with a smirk. Shikamaru simply shrugged as he turned to walk away. He couldn't hide the grin that began to creep across his face when he could hear her following behind him.

O0o0o0o0

Gaara finished up his work several hours later and made his way to the kitchen. Kankuro was out tonight, and Temari had already left to Konoha the day before so he really hadn't thought about making any food. That lack of thinking was really a kick in the pants now that he was hungry. The fridge held nothing of interest for him, and Gaara then made a mental note to go get groceries or send one of the servants to go do it. Closing the fridge he dug through the freezer and found Temari's stash of chocolate cookie dough ice cream.

'Good enough.'

"**So, do tell how are you going to live off a half gallon of ice cream? Have you ever been grocery shopping?"**

'I lived without help for seven years.'

"**Yeah but it's different when people provide food for you. You should have Bug get some food, she'll probably know how to cook too. Then you and your future kids won't starve."** Hearing this Gaara choked on the ice cream.

'_WHAT!'_

"**Well, if you love her then…how best to explain this to you?"**Shukaku mused. **"Ahh, yes this should do… Ahem…Bug and Gaara sitting in a tree…"**

'Oh gods please don't!'

"**K-i-s-s-i-n-g-, **

'Stop it…'

"**first comes love then comes marriage…"**

'Shukaku PLEASE.'

"**then comes Gaara with a baby carriage!**

'For the love of my sanity please…'

"**If you love her then you'll eventually get married…married people mate with each other.**

'Stop, I don't want to hear more, I already know what you're going to say!'

"**Mating produces offspring… I really don't know how to be clearer than that."**

'Yes, it's over…'

"**I can always be more descriptive…"**

'Kami NO!'

"**You see when a male gets aroused…"**

'LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA-LA!'

"**Oh come on now, you had to know I'd be giving you the talk eventually."**

'NO! I've gotten the talk from Kankuro and THAT was bad enough! No more talking!'

"**But I-**

"NO MORE!"

"Gaara-kun, are you ok? I heard yelling." Gaara turned to face the soft voice coming from behind him. Shukaku wolf whistled in his head and that certainly did not help matters. Nia stood yawning, her hair loose, flowing past her shoulders and disheveled wearing a large baggy t-shirt, which had slipped off her shoulder.

"Everything's fine, go back to bed. It's late."

"Nah, I'm awake now." She said sleepily as she sat at the table. "What's up?"

"Just Shukaku being Shukaku. I was thinking about heading to bed."

"**Invite Bug to go with you."**

'NO! Wait…have you named her Bug?'

"**Yes, now come on! I want grandkids."**

'Not in this life time you crazy old woman!'

"Gaara-kun, are you sure you're ok? You look conflicted." She asked, her head dipping slightly as it rested on her hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Ok, I'll believe you *Yawn* this time." Gaara sat back at the table and took another spoon full of ice cream. He offered some to Nia, but blinked in surprise to find her sleeping soundly at the table. Putting away the ice cream he lifted the petit girl and carried her back to her room. Her head snuggled into his chest, Gaara was reluctant to release Nia from his arms. Using his sand, he pulled the sheets back and gently laid her on the bed and covered her with the blankets.

In the moonlight he couldn't help but notice how peaceful she looked while she slept. She was a moonlit beauty and he couldn't help but admire her. Auburn hair framed her face in delicate waves, and reaching out a hand Gaara brushed a stray strand behind her ear. Her skin was incredibly soft underneath his fingertips, and it was not the first time he had noticed this. Her long, long, eyelashes brushed against her cheeks as she instinctually turned her face towards his hand. Her pink lips pulled into a soft smile.

"mmm, Gaara-kun…"

"**She's dreaming about you…AWWWW so sweet!" **Gaara ignored Shukaku for the moment not daring to make a sound. Slowly and carefully he pulled away, and with a backwards glance, he left the room heading to his own.

O0o0o0o0

Nia woke early the next morning her head buried in the burgundy sheets. Slowly she blinked away sleep before sitting up and stretching. Ambassadors were given three days to settle into their rooms before they started their duties, she planned on using those three days to get to know the village, its people and the layout. The sun was just beginning to rise as the girl walked from the Kazekage mansion, and already the streets were bustling with people.

It seemed that most of the heavy shopping was done either early in the morning or late in the evening to avoid the scorching mid-day heat. As she wandered, Nia poked through various stands looking at items on the shelves and racks. Finally she could feel the temperature slowly begin to rise as the sun made its debut to the desert village. It was then she decided that Tsunade was right, she would definitely need clothing designed for this kind of weather. In the time it took to find a clothing store it felt as if the temperature had risen by 50 degrees; She hadn't even been out an hour yet. As Nia recalled, Temari had told her of a shop she frequented often, she had suggested that the next time the brunette be in Suna she check it out. Now much to her annoyance Nia couldn't remember the name of said store for the life of her. With a sigh she entered every clothing store she could find hoping something would catch her eye, finally a store sign did.

'The Devil's Hallows? This wasn't the place Temari told me about…but I've been in every other store so far so why not?' Opening the door to the shop she looked around and immediately took notice of the woman who sat behind the counter.

"This store's for Kunoichi only girl, unless you've got a head band you've got to leave." Nia flashed the headband on her arm and the woman nodded motioning her towards the store's interior. There was a little bit of everything, and to be honest, Nia was impressed; the clothing's materials were lighter and more breathable, but made of tougher fibers. She pulled out several outfits and went to try them on, the first one she liked immediately. The shirt was a light green halter top with the standard shinobi mesh underneath, and the capris were similar to the black pair she wore, only with extra pockets. The second one was a long red and black dress-like shirt with black and red trimmed shorts underneath. The third and fourth were simply light colored tank tops and khaki, and light blue colored shorts for her days off. Grabbing a new cloth piece for her headband, Nia paid for her things and changed into the green top and black capris. The effect of the different material was instantaneous, and immediately she could feel the desert's breeze flowing through her clothes as she stepped out into the steaming hot plaza.

It was only 9:00am and Nia already felt like she was melting. Going into a nearby restaurant she grabbed two breakfast plates and headed towards the Kazekage tower, knowing Gaara like she did he'd already be working. She only remembered bits and pieces of the previous night, but seeing how Gaara was eating ice cream she figured that there probably wasn't anything in the fridge. The secretary let her up the stairs, and in moments the girl was knocking on the door to Gaara's office.

The door slowly opened, and looking down, Nia caught a glimpse of sand trailing away. Smiling she stepped into the room.

"Morning Gaara-kun! I brought breakfast, you hungry?" She asked sitting down in the chair in front of his desk.

"Not right now, but thank you, I have to finish these papers." Nia cocked an eyebrow when the sound of the red head's growling stomach could be heard.

"You sure about that?" she asked with a smile as she opened the lid of her box letting the delicious aroma fill the room as she took a bite of her food.

"**Please?"**

'I'm almost done.'

"**But Gaara, I'm hunnnngry nowwww…"**

'And I'm working now.'

"**Feed me now dammit!"**

'I'm still working.'

"**Don't make me sing Gaara." **Shukaku threatened, this earned Gaara's attention.

'You wouldn't dare.' No, she swore she would never again, not after that last time…

"**Feed me or I will."**

'You're bluffing…'

"**OOOOO… 1000 bottles of-"**

'NO!' Gaara immediately grabbed the breakfast box on the desk and began eating.

"**I always get my way."**

'Shut up…' he said in a defeated voice. Gaara could stand many things, he was blessed with an amazing amount of patience…for all the right things of course. Certain people he could not be bothered by their crazy amount of energy and enthusiasm, two people would be Naruto and Rock Lee. Other people…not so much. But more than anything the one thing that could drive him to madness was Shukaku's singing. She was simply horrible, and the worst part was that it was on purpose…

"What made you change your mind?"

"_She _was going to start singing unless I ate." Nia burst out laughing almost dropping the food in her lap.

"Really? You're the strongest shinobi in Suna and you're defeated by some bad singing?"

"No, I'm rendered temporarily incapacitated by horrendous singing, there's a difference."

"**Should I sing for Bug 'Gaara-kun'?" **Shukaku said smiling evilly.

'NO!'

"**Buzzkill….Hey Gaara?"**

'Yes?'

"** will always loooooooooooooove YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU for feeding meeeeeeeeee!"**

'You just like to torture me don't you?' he said with a wince.

"**What was your first clue?"**

"Hey Gaara-kun, since I officially start Monday I've got the weekend to kill, is there anything around here I can do for fun?"

"Yes, there are a few places around here."

"**Like Karaoke! Yes, let's all go sing the songs of our people!"**

'What the hell are you going on about?' Shukaku grinned evilly.

"KARAOKE!" Gaara's voice shouted.

'Shukaku I'm going to KILL you!'

"I love Karaoke! Would you want to go with me? You don't have to sing, I think it would just be fun, you know?" The brunette asked picking at her food. Gaara thought about it for a few minutes still devising ways to kill the sand demon.

"Maybe when would this be?"

"Either tonight or tomorrow, though I must admit I can't sing a damn note, it's too fun to not sing." She said with a smile.

"Ok, I'll think about it."

"Awesome Gaara-kun! I'll leave you be now that you're fed."

"**Yes, awesome Gaara-kun! Let's go singing. : 3" **Shikaku said with a devilish smirk.

'I hate you.'

Nia smiled, taking the empty breakfast box. "I'll go explore the village a bit more."

"Just don't go out from 11 to 3 in the afternoon. It gets overwhelmingly hot around that time here. The last thing I need to explain to your family and my sister is why I let you get sun poisoning."

"Sun poisoning?"

"Yes, if you are exposed to the sun too long, you may develop a mild redness within a few hours, a sun burn. This usually peaks within 24 hours. A severe reaction which is marked by extreme tenderness, pain, swelling, and blistering, may be accompanied by fever, chills, nausea, and delirium within 12 hours of the overexposure. Unfortunately, there is no quick cure for the discomforts of sun poisoning. Home remedies, like wet compresses, tub baths, and soothing lotions, usually provide partial relief. But as I said, it's best to avoid being outside at those times."

"Ok, it's almost 10 now, so I'll head over to the gardens to check out with what I'll be working with, then I'll head right back to the house."

"Very well, please be careful."

"Of course I will!" She said with a smile as she turned and walked from the room and out into the desert once again feeling the intense heat of the early morning.

O0o0o0o0

She had been at Suna's green houses for what felt like only moments, and after exploring the storage area, and feeling the heat start to steadily rise she left. The second Nia stepped into the sun she could feel a blazing intense heat. Once her eyes adjusted to the bright light she could see the entire village of Suna was now indoors, and the sun was almost at its peak in the sky. Not a creature was stirring, not even the desert insects, it was as if she woke up in a ghost own. The sun seared against her skin, and going into the green houses again was not an option, she had left because it had been far too warm inside, and outside proved to be no better.

She pressed herself against the building trying to keep in the shade as she wiped sweat from her brow. Only then did she realize something, the last time she had something to drink was at breakfast an hour ago. There was a four hour window where the hottest time of day occurred and she was stuck outside in the shade of a greenhouse a good mile away from the village during that time. She could already feel her throat drying out as she swallowed thickly. The heat was crazy, and as she looked over at the thermometer she could see the mercury rising well over the 110 degree mark it was already reaching 115 degrees F.

"Crap. Gaara told me to be careful, damn it!" Nia thought about her options and realized that she only had 2. One, she could run the mile, a five minute run that would take up a lot of energy, and that she might not accomplish due to the heat, or two, she could sit here and roast, conserve energy and fluids as she tried to keep in the shade. In minutes she realized that both were terrible ideas especially since she was starting to become dizzy already. She put her head on her knees and took slow breaths.

'Ok, I'm getting dehydrated, I'm sweating less, I'm starting to get dizzy, not good, not good at all, those are signs of heat exhaustion. Tsunade warned me about this, if I don't cool down soon, this could kill me!'

The dizziness gave way to nausea as Nia felt her stomach lurch.

'This is _worse!_ Damn it, I'm in trouble! Don't puke, don't puke, stay calm, and don't puke…crap!' Nia fought her body's reaction to the heat, she couldn't afford to lose any kinds of bodily fluids now, especially with three more hours to go. In an attempt to find cool, Nia began to dig at the sand and push it away, laying in the dugout area. It worked for the most part, but she used more energy than she could afford to do so, and there was still the lack of water. It wasn't like she could use the hose like she could back in Konoha, any water in that green house would create humidity which would disrupt the growth of the sensitive plants, all water was brought to the green house from the water storage area. In simple terms, she was screwed unless someone found her soon.

O0o0o0o0o0o

Gaara sat at his desk finishing up the last dregs of paperwork before placing the pen down and feeling accomplished. He had finished early today, it was only 12:30, that meant that if he so chose to he could head back to the Kazekage mansion and see Nia. Like any teen his age, Gaara headed to the mansion to see his girlfriend. He arrived and in moments was met with one of the maids.

"Kazekage-Sama, the Ambassador from Konoha has yet to return, I fear she may have gotten lost or might be stuck in the desert." Gaara nodded and immediately headed back outside.

"**You know, if it wasn't for me you'd look like a cooked lobster all day every day."**

'And I thank you for your ability to keep me safe from the sun.'

"**Have you ever had a sunburn?"**

'No, and I don't want one.' Gaara said heading down the one mile trek to the green houses.

"**They suck, it's like the sun is cooking you alive. It's easy to describe it to someone, but it sucks when you have one. We'll have to forget the sand armor one day so you can experiment."**

'I'd rather we not and say we did.'

"**Kill joy."**

'Sadist.'

"**You should hurry up you know, the sun's nothing for you because you have me, Bug's not so protected from the elements. We'll be like secret agents."**

Gaara broke out into a run as he headed towards the green house, he shook his head as he heard Shukaku.

"**Duh duh na na duh duh na na nya nya nan ya nya naaaa."(Shukaku singing the mission impossible theme horribly)**

**O0o0o0o0o**

The sun was still burning brightly, and much to her dismay, Nia had lost her breakfast in the sand.

'So much for saving body fluids.' She thought irritably. She was so angry at herself right now, but once she got over her anger she just wanted to cry. She couldn't do so, so she settled for having a pseudo temper tantrum instead.

"I hate this! I'm so stupid! I never not think, and the one time I don't it ends up killing me! It's hot and I'm thirsty and I'm so SO, STUPID! Gaara's gonna hate me for dying out here! He told me to be careful, but I wasn't! I just want some damn water." She finished pouting and considerably more exhausted than before.

O0o0o0o0

As Gaara neared the green house he could hear ranting and screaming coming from behind it. Making his way over he saw Nia sitting in the shade of the green house pouting and looking thoroughly tuckered out and miserable. With a soft sigh he reached into his pouch and pulled out his canteen. Walking over he placed it in her hand as he crouched down beside her. Nia looked thoroughly confused, but the second she recognized the object, the cap was removed and she began chugging the lifesaving liquid. At that moment it was the most delicious water she had ever tasted. Once the canteen was sufficiently drained, Nia looked over to her savior and was met with Gaara's blue-green eyes staring her down.

"Fancy meeting you here huh?" she said with a smile that slowly melted away under the Kazekage's stern gaze. Nia knew she was in trouble as she ducked her head.

"Let's go." Gaara said taking her hand. In moments they had appeared in the Kazekage's mansion, one thing rang through Nia's mind…AIR CONDITIONING!

Gaara led her to the kitchen and handed her a bottle of water which she gratefully accepted. As she readily gulped the liquid, Nia watched as Gaara poured another bottle into a cup and mixed a brown envelope of powder into it turning the water red. This he handed over to Nia as well after she sat at the table.

"Drink it, it'll balance out your body's chemicals, electrolytes, and the like." The brunette nodded and drank the fruity tasting liquid. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Less sick, hydrated for one…"

"Good, now I won't feel as bad. Do you not listen or are you simply hard of hearing?" One who had simply walked by would have thought that the Kazekage was saying random sentences, one had to know him well to hear the underlying tone of anger in his voice.

"Gaara-kun, I'm sorry…" Gaara gave her a 'shut-up and listen' look, and she did exactly that.

"I don't want to hear 'I'm sorry' I can't tell your aunt and uncle I'm sorry if you die out here. Every time you step out into the desert you face death Nia, Suna's a dangerous place and not in a human to human way either. There is little water, the temperatures are harsh, and the sun is brutal. We get sand storms that can last from minutes to days and have varying degrees to them, some just simple gusts, to others that can hit you with sand so hard that it can blast flesh from bones! You've been here dozens of times, even if you never stayed long you should know enough to bring water with you! Why didn't you think to do that much?" Silence rang in the kitchen and slowly Nia looked up to face him realizing that he was expecting her to answer.

"Honestly, I thought it would be a quick trip to the green houses. It got so hot so fast that I didn't expect to be struck with nausea, and the dizziness came so quickly. I didn't think I'd get stuck there. I'm sorry I worried you, I really am. I feel like an idiot." Gaara sighed quietly, and Nia watched as his shoulders slumped slightly.

"I'm happy that you have an excuse that isn't 'I forgot to bring water.' this happens to many of our residents. You'll be accompanied by someone every time you wish to leave the mansion until you acclimated to the weather change. We don't want a repeat of this afternoon, I don't want you to be in danger again. Where ever you go, bring your canteen with you, and when work begins, you'll be accompanied by me daily unless I'm unable, then either Baki or Kankuro will do so. Understood?"

"Yes. I'm sorry Gaara…I really am." Nia said softly.

"I know, I'm not mad, you worried me a lot just then. Please be more careful next time. It would kill me if something happened to you." Nia nodded.

"I'm going to go to my room and take a shower."

"Ok. I'll be in the living room." With that said, the pair went their separate ways.

"**I think you were too hard on Bug, it's her first time here alone, give her a break." **Shukaku said puling the red head into her mindscape. The desert demon sat looking at her nails as she gave Gaara a quick glance.

'I don't want her to hurt herself out here. You of all people should know that only the strongest survive in the desert.'

"**I know, but she's not from here, she's visiting, give her a chance to grow. Bug is like a plant. She can survive out of her element, but if you don't properly care for it, it will die." **She said demonstrating with her sand making a flower and having it slowly wither away.

Gaara thought about these words, it was true that he was a bit harsh on her…but he just didn't want to see her get hurt out here. Suna was a tough place to live in…he had to get her used to the desert area. Walking from the room Gaara decided that that was exactly what he was going to do.

"**So…you're off to find Bug?"**

"Yes."

"**And you think this is a good idea **_**now**_**?"**

"Yes I do. Why?"

"**No reason." **Shukaku said with a smirk.

Gaara made his way towards the room he had brought Nia to the previous evening and knocked on the door as he entered.

"Nia I wanted to-" Gaara froze wide eyed at the sight in front of him and everything seemed to be going in slow motion while Shukaku was laughing in his head. There stood Nia frozen in shock completely nude with not even a towel on. A drop of water fell from her wet hair and that seemed to break the spell, for the second the drop hit the ground she shrieked trying to cover herself.

"GAARA! CLOSE THE DOOR!" the brunette shrieked snatching the towel in front of her to cover her modesty.

"I'm sorr-" A pillow came flying towards him as the boy withdrew from the room.

"CLOSE IT!" She screamed her face burning bright red as the door slammed shut.

"**HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA" **Gaara's face burned in embarrassment as he held the door shut behind him. **"So due tell Gaara-kun, are you so adamant against giving me grandkids now?"**

'Shut up…'

**That's the end of Chapter 24! : 3 Hope you liked it! Please review! **


	26. What is this new feeling?

A Tough Life

Chapter 25

What is this new feeling?

Alarms were blaring through the newly installed systems in Suna. Gaara had decided that the shinobi bell system that had previously been in place which the village relied on was too primitive and could not be depended on. The villagers could get to shelter, and the entire village could be in shelter in under five minutes during a sand storm's approach. However, many people who were not native to the area or who were simply visiting were unaware why the desert village cleared so suddenly, that or others would simply not hear the bell ringing.

As the loud blaring alarm rang through Suna, Gaara decided he much preferred this method over methods of the past. Sand storms in this area could last days on end, especially in peak season which was quickly approaching. This was something so important it required **all **of his undivided attention.

"**You're such a liar Gaara-kun, even if it's to yourself a lie's still a lie. Just admit it, you can't face Bug without blushing."**

'Not true.'

"**Then why haven't you spoken to her these last few days? Hmmmm?"**

"Oh shut up…" The red head said out loud running his hands through his crimson locks.

"**You're avoiding being anywhere near her."**

'Again, not true, we live in the same house.' Hearing this Shukaku rolled her eyes.

"**Yeah that only means you live together in the same abnormally large extremely spacious three floor mansion where one can get completely lost in and never return. Face it, you're embarrassed…that or you totally want to see her naked again."**

'GOODBYE SHUKAKU!' Gaara thought forcing the pesky sand demon from his thoughts, or at least trying to.

"**Ooh, it's TRUE isn't it! HA I knew my plan was brilliant!"**

'_That_ was_ your_ idea!'

"**Why are you surprised? I thought you figured that out sooner…Well I'm going to go figure out many more methods of torture for you, BYE!"**

'Wait, I'm not done with you-'

"Gaara? Are you ok? You've been avoiding me a lot lately…did I do something to upset you?" Gaara stiffened before turning to see the one person he'd been hoping to avoid.

"No, Nia you didn't do anything-

"Then why are you avoiding me? If you think I'm upset with you I'm not anymore! It was an accident, I forgave you last week Gaara-kun!" Gaara sighed.

"Nia that's not it."

"Then why?" She asked sadly.

"It's difficult to explain but it's not you." He said looking away.

"Could you at least try and explain it to me?" Nia asked walking around to look Gaara in the eye. Gaara looked away from the brunette who looked to the ground. "Fine then." She said softly. "I'm going to- You know what, you've been avoiding me for the last week so why would you even care where I'm going? Bye Gaara-kun." Although her tone was soft and quiet, Gaara flinched at Nia's words as she left the room.

"**Really smooth."**

'I made her upset.'

"**Ya think? You can be quite dull you know."**

'Bite me.'

"**Tempting offer, really, but no thanks. How about some insight instead?" ** Gaara stayed silent waiting for Shukaku to continue. **"She thinks you've lost interest in her, that you're closing yourself off that you don't love her any more, that she's not worth your time."**

'But why would she think something so foolish?'

"**Because you haven't proven otherwise. Go to your mate and show her you care, be quick because the desert's shifting." **Closing his eyes Gaara too felt the familiar shifting of the desert tugging at him, a sand storm was approaching and the power it held made Gaara uneasy. Nia was somewhere in Suna completely unaware of the impending danger.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The desert was searing, but the brunette had slowly grown accustomed to it, her green top blew in the sudden gust of wind, which seemed to be picking up more than usual. Tying her hair back and propping the green house doors open Nia went to work transplanting the desert herbs which had out grown their containers into larger pots, and harvesting the medicinal herbs. In Suna Herbs were preserved in a different fashion, while in Konoha, dried herbs were tough to get and fresh herbs were easy to come by, in Suna it was the opposite. The plants needed to be harvested at the peak of freshness and preserved immediately while still in their prime. Luckily for her, Sunas medical staff produced a fresh batch of preservation fluid daily and collected the newest specimens every few hours. Her work for the day was finished, hell it had been completed hours ago, right now the green house served as a getaway of sorts. Laying down on the bench and closing her eyes she sighed. In truth Nia wanted Gaara to find her and to prove her angry thoughts wrong, and as time passed she grew more sullen. Nia listened to the wind as it began picking up and soon started to howl, she felt a sudden drop in temperature as well. Even with her eyes closed she could see the light of day quickly fade away into darkness. Opening her eyes, they widened in shock as torrents of sand blasted across the green house windows. Hurrying over to the doors she pulled them shut and sighed before sitting back down on the bench.

"Gaara…"

O0o0o0o0o0o0

After setting off the alarm Gaara made his way towards the house. It was after 5pm, Nia was usually done with work and home by then. As he hurried around the house Gaara had a sinking feeling that Nia wasn't here. While normally he would use his sand to bring him to the house, during a storm like this he couldn't, the last time he tried he ended up in the middle of the desert. Suddenly a thought came to him and never had Gaara felt so foolish, she had always gone to the green houses in her down time, where else would she be? With Shukaku's sand shield protecting him Gaara hurried towards his destination, the wind blowing him wildly around.

O0o0o0o0o0

Slowly the glass structure was being covered with sand, Nia couldn't even see out the windows and that thought made her nervous, the sand was completely burying the greenhouse.

'Will the glass be able to hold all that sand?' As if to answer her thoughts the sound of cracking glass breached the silence, and Nia watched as the glass roof splintered above her.

'I really need to stop thinking things into life…'

"Ok, ok, let's see…ummm the plants! If the plants get crushed by all that glass and sand the hospital will be set back for months!" Moving quickly she grabbed a cart and began piling trays of herbs and plants and brought them to the other side of the glass building. After unloading and putting all of her hard work out of harm's way Nia once again loaded the cart and watched as the sand slowly began leaking through the crack in the roof. Just as she finished collecting all of the medicinal plants and placing them on the cart the glass gave a sickening crack as the ceiling gave way with a shatter. Nia screamed ducking down and covering her head to protect it from the falling glass. Surprisingly though no glass or sand touched her, opening her eyes Nia looked up to see a wall of sand blocking the ceiling off.

"Gaara-kun?"

"I'm sorry. I upset you that was not my intention. I wasn't trying to avoid you, I wanted to keep you from me. I don't understand these feelings I've been having lately. It's different than love, that much is clear and I know, but it intensifies when I'm around you and even more so since last week. I don't understand it and I don't want to possibly hurt you so I've been distancing myself from you while I've tried to understand this feeling." Gaara said over the howling wind, still keeping the sand and glass from falling on the brunette.

"Have you figured out what it is yet? The feeling?" Nia asked hopefully.

"…No I haven't, I've never felt this before."

"**Sounds like lust to me…think about it, it increased last week **_**after**_** you saw her naked, it only happens around her, the one female you've bonded with that you find sexually appealing, that and I can see you totally eyeing her curves…"**

Gaara's face stained crimson with Shukaku's words, and never was he more grateful for the dark shadow the sand storm caused. Nia was thinking along the same lines as her face tinged pink.

"Umm…Gaara-kun? I think what you feel is physical attraction, like when you want more than just hugging or kissing and stuff."

"It's normal?"

"Yes."

"How do I make it stop?" Nia's face now rivaled the jinchuriki's hair in color.

"Uhh, Gaara-kun maybe this is something you should talk to Kankuro or Baki sensei about…"

"Do you not know?"

"I KNOW! It's just…ummm…uhh…you'd get a better answer to your question by asking a male who's gone through the same thing. Girls and guys go through these feelings differently Gaara-kun."

"**Talk about an awkward silence…you could have just asked me sheesh."**

Neither one spoke as the howling winds grew louder.

"Are you ok?" Gaara asked watching as Nia moved the cart and once again sat on the bench.

"I'm fine, honestly I was more worried as to why you were avoiding me…I felt really alone all week. I didn't like it…it reminded me of when I was out of the academy without a team…it was really lonely." She said softly looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry." Gaara said sitting down on the bench next to the brunette.

"It's ok, because even though we were alone we found each other." Nia said leaning back a bit.

"We'll always find each other, and I'll always find you. I promise."

"Yeah?" she asked with a small smile as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Always." They sat in silence together waiting for the storm to die down, and eventually Gaara heard soft snores coming from beside him. Hours passed and eventually the storm slowed enough for Gaara's sand to teleport the pair back to the Kazekage's mansion.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When Nia opened her eyes instead of seeing the green house walls like she expected, instead she saw the walls of the Kazekage's mansion, and a tuft of red hair leaning against the couch.

"Gaara-kun?" she whispered leaning over only to find that he was asleep. "Thank you Gaara-kun." Nia said softly kissing the top of his head before settling back to sleep.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

4 months later

"Kazekage-sama, patient success rates have skyrocketed 46% in the last three months, our herbal medicines have improved substantially in quality as well."

"That is very good news Misa-san, anything else to report?" Gaara asked looking to the medic.

"Nothing now, however, if I may speak freely?" Gaara nodded his acquiescence waiting for her to continue. "Does Miss Nia really have to leave? Her six month stay is already more than half way over and already we've benefitted from her knowledge so much." Gaara laced his fingers.

"So you believe we should keep her around to gain her exponential knowledge in medicine?"

"Not just that Kazekage-sama no, she's a very sweet girl and very gifted, especially with children. The work she's done in pediatrics has been especially astounding." Gaara nodded his head. "And if it's not too bold to say Kazekage-sama, I think it's nice for you to have someone to spend time with…" Gaara raised a non-existent brow and the nurse blanched. "Umm, I mean it's a good thing that you two are such good friends a-and-!"

"That's quite alright Misa-san, you're dismissed." The older woman blinked in surprise before hurrying from the room. Gaara sat musing at his desk, was it that obvious that he and Nia were a thing?

"**You've been out together every night since the sand storm and you're both always together. The world would have to be blind not to notice, plus you aren't very discrete about it either Gaara-kun." **Gaara thought about it and realized that Shukaku was quite right, they had been out together every night, they held hands and had kissed in public with him initiating it most of the time. That information he surprised himself with.

"**Why so surprised? Naturally you're territorial and protective, she's your mate after all." 'Heh, at least he's stopped arguing with me about that…'**

'I don't like it when other guys look at her like _that._'

"**So you're claiming her in front of the masses huh?"**

'Need I even answer that?'

"**Maybe for my amusement."**

'Not on your life.'

"**It was worth a try…it's almost five, Bug should be here soon…do you think she'll bring food?"**

'There always is that possibility…I'm kind of hoping for food too.' After a few moments of silence and after signing several papers the savory smell of roasted meat distracted him. He looked up just as a knock came to the door.

"Gaara-kun I brought dinner!" Nia said in a singsong voice as she smiled placing the tray of food on his desk. Gaara reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before cupping her cheek making the brunette blush.

"Thank you."

"Any time." Nia said smiling as she leaned down giving the red head a quick kiss. "I have to go now, I'm showing the pediatrics staff how to make a non-stinging ointment." Nia said with a wave as she hurried from the room.

"**Gaara you need to marry her now! I'll bet money this is homemade food! And she's working in pediatrics, always a bonus to have a mate that can cook and cares for children."**

'Children?' Gaara thought suddenly as a vision of a small red headed child clouded his vision before he shook it away. 'I could never be a father.'

"**Anyone can be a parent, see all you have to do is put your-**

'I'm well aware where babies come from! And you know that's not what I mean…How could I ever be a father when I'm barely able to show love as I am?' Shukaku's voice softened as she spoke.

"**When one has children….it's as if a part of their heart that has never been touched is opened for the very first time, and all the love you could ever want to give your child is there with more to spare than necessary…When the time comes you'll find that out first hand. I'm sure you'll be a great father Gaara."**

The red head ate in silence as he brooded over his and Shukaku's most recent conversation.

O0o0o0o0o0

"And see, all you have to do is add the proper amount of this herb right here." Nia said showing the staff the plant in her hand. "The trick is to add just the right amount for an 8oz jar of salve, you'll always use 2oz, go by weight don't eyeball it. Too little and it won't be as effective, too much and it turns the healing salve into poison. This herb acts as a neurotoxin with paralysis as its main goal, if you use the correct amount it will numb the affected area." The group watched as she ground the herb, leaves and all into a paste and weighed it out on the scale. "You also must let it rest for a few days to solidify, there's no point in having runny ointment, it would never stay and would seep through the bandages. That's how it's prepared, any questions comments or concerns?"

Immediately the group clustered around her and began firing questions off one by one. Nia stayed three hours late answering questions listening to comments and addressing concerns the other doctors had, and by the time she finally left the hospital it was almost 9:30pm. She walked along the street and began to hum a song she had heard one of the patients in pediatrics…it was weird the song seemed to fit she and Gaara perfectly, yet before today she'd never even heard of it until the little girl started singing it. To Nia it was funny how things worked out like that…

She passed the Kazekage's tower and glanced up noticing that the light was still on. Changing her route she entered the building and climbed up the stairs stopping to talk to the secretary.

"Hey, it's pretty late do you know what he's doing here now?"

"Oh, Miss Nia! Yeah he's been in meetings since you left, just one problem after another unfortunately, first the ANBU, then boarder control, after that there were a few citizens with complaints. I'm actually surprised he's let it run this late. Normally by now he would have put an end to them." She said as she worked on papers. They watched as an older man, one Nia recognized from the council walked up to the secretary's desk.

"When the Kazekage's finished in his office let him know that we've decided to have a meeting now, and inform the ambassador." He said turning to walk away.

"Excuse me? Gaara's not going to any meeting right now. He's going to go home, especially since he's been here from 5 in the morning. You can have your last minute meeting tomorrow morning after giving him the courtesy of a good night's rest." Nia said in annoyance. The man stopped.

"Do you know who you're talking to you wretch?"

'Well that's a new one…' Nia thought irritably

"Yes, I'm talking to the third seat on the council, Jin Ryuta." Nia said simply.

"We as a council decide when our meetings are, it is the Kazekage's duty to show up when requested."

"I'm well aware, but as the Ambassador to Konoha I'm required to attend as well. However these meetings last for hours, and I for one am not going to sit and listen to you guys talk about the same old things time and time again until three in the morning without getting a single thing accomplished. I have to be at the hospital at six, my shift ends at twelve with no breaks included, during the time when it's hottest I work on a mixture of hospital paperwork and my ambassador's paperwork, that's from twelve to three, after that I work in the green houses until around five or six. After that I go home make dinner and bring it to_ your_ Kazekage because he works so hard he forgets to eat. After that I go back to the hospital to give lessons on making ointments and correct learning medical staff on their uses of medicinal herbs until 9:30 at night, that's a fifteen hour work day not even mentioning my daily training. If you think I'm going to do all that tomorrow on three hours of sleep you have another thing coming."

"Well I hope your three hours are spent getting you well rested, because we're still having the meeting Ambassador." Nia wanted to growl as he walked away, she really hated the people on the council, they had no respect for the people who worked their butts off to make this village productive. Finally she just sighed and looked to the secretary.

"I'll tell him about the meeting." Moments later the door opened and a civilian clan head Nia had frequently seen walked out with Gaara.

"Thank you Kazekage-sama, you'll see in no time that this change will increase our water storage's liquid capturing potential tenfold!" Gaara simply nodded as he waved the man away. Once the clan head had gone Gaara looked over at Nia rubbing his temples.

"Please tell me you've come to bring me home."

"I'm sorry love. Those stupid council members called a meeting…"

"... ... ... ... … ... ...I wanted to go to bed…fine let's go…" Gaara said as he made his way out of the tower only to pause before he hit the stairs.

"Tia, go home, you've been here all day." He said to the secretary as he turned and made his way down the stairs, Nia following behind.

"You do know their doing this on purpose right? I'm fine without sleep but I think their trying to break you. Every time they brought up something to do with Konoha that would not be beneficial you always made the right call in refusing to accept their decisions. Try not to let yourself be swayed by them, do your best to make the right call." He said simply as they neared the council room as Nia yawned.

"You know I always do what's best for my village Gaara-kun, no matter how exhausted I am. Tomorrow's really going to suck though…"

O0o0o0o0o

The council meeting took forever, and just as Nia predicted they were finished around three in the morning and she wanted nothing more than to strangle each and every one of them for keeping her up this late with another fifteen hour day ahead of her.

'Those bastards, they get to sit around and talk all day…I don't see them working their asses off…I swear if I could I'd-

"Nia stop hitting me." Gaara said as he piggy backed the brunette down the road towards the mansion, she had leaned against the wall after the meeting and fell asleep there in seconds. The red head decided to carry her home, and on the way she had started punching his arm.

"Nia!"

"Ngh? What's wrong?" she asked waking up and looking around.

"What were you dreaming about? Killing the council members?"

"Yeah…how'd you know?"

"You were beating me in your sleep."

"I'm so sorry!" she said trying to scramble off Gaara's back, however he held her in place.

"You're tired and were already here." He said walking up the stairs to her room.

"I'm sorry I was beating you up." She said softly, as he placed her gently on the ground in front of her door.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. I'll let the hospital know that you'll be in late tomorrow, just get some rest, it's really late." Gaara said softly watching as the brunette nodded her head. Leaning up on her toes Nia gave him a kiss.

"Thank you for bringing me home." She said opening her door.

"Good night."

"Good night." Nia entered the room and softly closed the door behind her, and in moments Gaara could hear her jump on the bed, but his thoughts were in another place.

"**What's got your mind going?"**

'She said home. Not to my room or back to the house…but home. Do you think she views Suna as home?'

"**It's entirely possible…maybe she wants to live here…think about it Gaara, she cooks, she's good with kids, she's medicinally handy, and based on your reaction every time she's pretty good looking. You two could end up married and giving me seven or eight grandkids."**

'S-seven?'

"**Or eight."**

'Are you out of your mind! I thought all these years it was you driving me crazy, but I'll bet you've been going insane.' Gaara thought as he made his way to his room.

"**Just think about it you two alone, no interruptions, dinner, music, **_**dessert?**_**"**

"Why do I have a feeling you're going to go really into detail about dessert?'

"**Nah, saving that for another time…no point in torturing you if you're just going to fall asleep afterwards…kill joy."**

'Thanks, I feel SO loved.'

"**You should."**

O0o0o0o0o0

_There's people so many people, all crowded around something on the ground. Nia doesn't know why but her heart's racing, she's terrified and close to tears as she pushes through the people in the crowd. Although she's in Suna she's not surprised to see some of her friends from Konoha there. They're looking at her with sympathy and sadness in their eyes. She pushes past Naruto who tries to hold her back, trying to stop her from going over to the center of the group. She ducks around Sakura's arm as she tries to stop her. Hinata looks away sadly standing next to her cousin and the two Konoha Jonin teachers are standing to the side. Finally she pushes her way to the center of the crowd as her heart stops. Tears pour from Nia's eyes and she drops to her knees as she screams at what she's seen._

Nia woke with a start with her heart racing and covered in a cold sweat as she panted heavily. She was shaking as she sat upright, and her breath hitched as she broke down sobbing. The brunette couldn't remember what it was in her dream that she had seen but it had scared her…it had scared her a lot. She climbed out of bed and grabbing her black and red shirt and black capris quickly got dressed as she hurried from the room.

Nia didn't know why but she had the strongest need to find Gaara right now. Racing through the village everything was normal, same old crowds, same old desert heat, same old same old. Nia ran into the Kazekage's building and rushed up the stairs, Gaara's door was open so she hurried through it making him look up from his papers immediately. He didn't even get a chance to speak before Nia threw herself at him holding onto the red head tightly as she trembled.

"Nia what's wrong?" Gaara asked pushing her back a bit as he checked her over for some kind of injury that would lead to her frantic state. His sand pulled the door shut to give them privacy. "What happened? Why are you upset?"

"I-I had a terrible dream and I just needed to see that you were ok." Gaara looked at her curiously.

"What did you dream about?"

"I don't remember, all I know is that I woke up scared to death for you, that I needed to find you just to see with my own eyes that you were fine." Nia said softly. "I had the worst feeling in my stomach for you Gaara-kun, like something terribly bad was going to happen." She said holding her boyfriend's face in her hands. Gaara placed his hands over hers, and looked into her nervous brown eyes.

"I promise that nothing's going to happen to me Nia, I promise that nothing will happen to you, or this village. I'll keep us all safe from any kind of threat. I swear I will, I never make promises I don't intend to keep." Gaara said softly as he pressed his forehead against hers and closing his eyes as Nia did the same.

"But it scared me so much…I don't remember what it was, but it scared me…The only thing I'm truly afraid of is to lose the people I love. I don't want to ever lose you ever…Gaara I couldn't bare it." Nia whispered, a tear running down her cheek.

"You won't have to…not for a very long, time. I'm not going anywhere."

**Tis chapter 25! I hope you guys enjoy. Man moving took FOREVER, definitely not a process I enjoy…that and I finally finished my college finals on the 16****th****, so Now I can upload like crazy! I've also been playing my favorite videogame too, gotta love Okami ^_^ beat it in 54 hours XD **

**Thanks for reading and for the reviews! :3 and thanks for putting up with my late updating! **


	27. A promise broken

A Tough Life

Chapter 26

A promise broken

Today was the last day…The last day of her 6 month transfer, the last day Nia would be in Suna…Today she would be leaving. Nia stood sadly at the gate as she stared longingly at the village below. She'd miss Suna, she really would…the desert village had become home for her these last six months and to be completely truthful….she didn't really want to go back to Konoha. She looked over just in time to see Kankuro walk up to her with a grin with Gaara following slowly behind.

"Be careful Nia, it was great having you here, but I'm gonna miss the hell outta you when you're gone." The puppet ninja said as he hugged the brunette.

"I'll miss you too Kanky…" Nia said giving him a smile. When Gaara stepped up they were both silent until Nia stepped forward and took his hand and pulled him close.

"Don't go missing me too much, you'll forget to eat."

"I really will miss you a lot Nia."

"I know, I'll miss you too…do you remember what you promised me two months ago about being safe?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well you better keep that promise even if I'm not there."

"I will."

"You'd better." Nia said wrapping her arms around him and feeling as Gaara did the same. "I'll try to be back as soon as I can, I'll get missions out here if I have to." She said with a smile.

"Be safe Nia…I love you."

"I love you too." The brunette said tilting her head up as they shared a kiss. Soon…too soon for her liking they separated and Gaara took a step back.

"Good bye." He said looking at the ground.

"Bye…" Nia said softly as she began walking after a minute or so she turned back and he was still watching her go, Kankuro already having gone. She waved and after he waved back she continued on her way looking over her shoulder until she could no longer see him, just the tall gates of the desert village. Quickly she brushed the tears from her eyes, at least she hadn't cried in front of him. The brunette hadn't been on her way to Konoha for more than ten minutes when she heard a loud blast. Turning around she saw a huge explosion where Suna would be. Nia stared in shock before sprinting back to the desert village.

'This can't be happening this can't be happening this cannot be happening! Please please Gaara! Please be ok!' Nia thought frantically as she continued to run. Just as she made it back to the village the brunette saw as Kankuro was fighting another puppet ninja…and losing badly. She ran over to the men who were completely unaware of her presence and kicked away the scorpion like tail that was just about to stab Kankuro.

"Nia what the hell are you doing here! Get away he'll kill you!" Kankuro gasped on the ground, his puppets smashed around him.

"Like hell I will, and let you get killed? I'd never forgive myself." The brunette said dodging strike after strike as she deflected the hits coming towards her with her kunai. Suddenly chakra strings wrapped around the girl slamming her to the ground.

"I've got to hand it to you girl, you've got some nerve to fight against me like you did. The puppet man growled, as the tail arched over his head nearing closer and closer to the brunette who squirmed away from it. The tip stopped just inches from her.

"Just who might you be girl?"

"Nia of Konoha, Ambassador to Suna. Who are you?" The tail inched closer and was now pressing against her skin.

"Sasori of the red sand, member of the Akatsuki." He said as the tail pierced through the skin right under her ribs making the brunette scream in pain.

"Nia!" The man in the black and red jacket walked away by the time the puppet ninja managed to crawl over to her and cut the chakra strings. She could feel the familiar searing of the poison in her wound and knew that if she only got hit once with the tail then Kankuro must be suffering far worse than she was.

"Kankuro stay still." Nia said placing her hand over his wounds and pulling as much poison out as she could, however the poison was affecting her body much faster than she had anticipated it would. Her chakra began to flicker before she lost control of it.

"I-I'm sorry I can't do more." Nia said as her vision blurred together as she fell to the ground unconscious.

O0o0o0o0

Nia woke to see the familiar white walls of the hospital and blinding orange next to her.

'W-what happened?' she thought blinking as she looked around. Trying to sit up she gasped in pain drawing the attention of the people in the room who were gathered around the other bed talking.

"Nia!"

"Nia-Chan"

"Temari? Naruto? What are you doing here? What happened?" Then suddenly the flash of a red head popped into her mind. "Where's Gaara?" At this the room grew silent and Nia looked around. "Where's Gaara!"

"Nia…after you left…Suna was attacked." Kankuro said, and as Nia looked around she noticed him in the bed sitting up and looking a great deal better than when she last seen him but the news hit her hard.

"Kankuro, where's Gaara? What happened to him where is he!" Nia asked frantically.

"Nia…he got taken by the Akatsuki."

"What! No that can't be he…he promised me he'd stay safe." Nia said as tears poured down her cheeks. "We have to do something I can't just stay here, I-

"That's what we're here for Nia-Chan!" Naruto said beaming at her. "We'll bring Gaara back safe and sound I promise!" he said grinning at her. However instead of smiling back like he expected she simply looked away.

"Just don't make me a promise you won't be able to keep Naruto."

"Nia you did an amazing job getting the poison out of Kankuro, if it hadn't been for what you did he may not have made it." Sakura said trying to cheer the girl up.

"I just did what I was able to do. Did you use the toxins inside of us to make an antidote?"

"Yes, I did actually."

"Good, because you'll need it. He's a puppet master that Sasori, he's pretty tough. Granted I'm not as strong as you, but still be careful you guys." Nia said softly.

The group nodded and slowly made their way out of the room.

"They'll find him Nia, and they'll bring him back safe and sound." Kankuro said still looking over to the girl who by now had slowly sat up and was holding her knees as she concentrated on her breathing. She felt sick to her stomach

"Kankuro I think I'm gonna throw up." Nia said quietly. The puppet master got out of the bed and brought over a small trash bucket which she held to her chest tightly. Never in her life had she ever felt so useless, so weak and incapable. Never had she been more afraid, not even when she was being tortured and experimented on by Orochimaru and Kabuto…because she knew deep in her heart that somewhere out there Gaara was looking for her and that he'd find her. Now he needed her help and she could do nothing but sit in the hospital bed as she recovered from a poisonous toxin that should have killed her…What was happening to him right now? Were they hurting him? Was he still alive? All these thoughts and more raced through her mind, each going from bad to worse, and just as she predicted she threw up.

O0o0o0o0

Temari didn't know what to do, they had raced to Suna like mad men and what does she get slammed with? Absolute refusal to go out and find her brother! They said she couldn't go find her brother! Who the hell does that? By the gods, the blonde swore she'd kill each and every one of those old bags on the council…except for the advisors…Chiyo-sama had actually gone to go bring her brother back, and this surprised Temari, of all people she never expected this from her.

Angrily Temari paced the hall of the Kazekage tower waiting for Baki to exit the council room. What was happening to her baby brother? How were the others faring? It had been a few hours since they left and the wind mistress wanted nothing more than to go after them, and normally she would…but with Gaara gone the council was in charge and if they wanted to they could throw her in jail for disobeying orders given by them. She had no choice but to wait for her old sensei and see what becomes of the situation at hand. She fiddled with her sleeve, messed with her fan, tugged at her hair and finally Baki came out.

"Well?"

"Go do a perimeter run, by the time you're done we'll have come to a decision." Gritting her teeth Temari nodded and reluctantly agreed as she made her way out of the tower. Her thoughts were on her brothers, Kankuro was recovering steadily, and Gaara…Temari just hoped he'd be ok when they got to him.

O0o0o0o0

He was pissed, pissed beyond pissed…some puppet master he was. He should have been able to save his brother. The one time where it really mattered for Kankuro to act as the protector to his brother he screwed up big time, and now he was gone, taken by those crazy bastards.

The brunette boy watched as the girl in the bed next to him threw up crying her eyes out. Not only did he fail in saving his brother…but now he owed his life to his brother's girlfriend Nia who almost died to save him. He didn't even see her coming, he'd accepted death then and there only to be completely stunned when she kicked that poisonous scorpion's tail away from him. He was surprised, astonished even. He had never seen her fight, she was a medical kunoichi and that was all he knew her as. Nia was a small little thing who preferred peace over conflict and violence and more than once he watched as she would solve minor conflicts in the village with a smile almost never getting angry.

Not once had he ever seen her fight until that day, not even in training. He'd assumed she'd focus on dodging and avoiding strikes, because being a medic, if you're to get seriously wounded, who would heal the team? He had watched as she dodged Sasori's strikes with ease, but what he had not expected to see was the power behind her blows when she defended him. As the tail once again made its way towards him, the small brunette smashed her arm against it knocking it off course as it landed mere inches away from him. That however was not the biggest surprise. That came when the tail cracked when she hit it. Kankuro watched as the material splintered after being struck, even Sasori looked surprised, because for just a brief moment, his attacks ceased, that was when he used his chakra strings to bind her in place. Kankuro watched in fear as she tumbled over suddenly bound as the tail neared closer and closer to her. He listened as she screamed, but he could tell she was holding back, he'd been stabbed by that thing and it was no joke, she was holding back a great deal of pain. She may be little, but she was strong, much stronger than he'd given her credit for. Even after he'd released her from the chakra strings he at least expected her to heal herself before tending to him, but was surprised to find that that wasn't the case at all. Once freed she immediately began pulling the poison from his wounds, when most of it was gone her chakra began to flicker before vanishing. She'd gone incredibly pale and was panting heavily before she collapsed as the poison took its toll on her. Even now she was still suffering its effects, he could see her wincing from the pain, trying to keep it hidden away.

"You're strong." The girl who had once had her head in the bucket looked at him curiously confused. "I said you're strong." Nia looked surprised had she truly doubted her abilities so?

"Really?" she asked weakly.

"Really, you totally saved my ass. You went toe to toe with Sasori of the red sand and lived to tell the tale." He said with a smirk, however Nia merely looked down.

"But I still lost…"

"Yeah, you lost because I was there like a sitting duck slowly being poisoned to death. If it hadn't been for me being there you probably would have won or had him running home and crying to the Akatsuki. You're incredibly strong. If it hadn't been for you, I'd probably be dead." He watched as her shoulders shook as she looked down at the bucket before looking at him with watery eyes.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me."

"Not a problem, so how are you feeling?" Again she looked surprised, did she really think people cared so little for her?

"I'm feeling better but…I'm so scared, Kanky, I'm scared for Gaara. I had such a terrible dream a few months ago and I think it was about him. There was a huge group near Suna and people were looking at me with the saddest of faces, and there were my friends from Konoha and they were trying to keep me from going over to what the crowd was looking at….but…but I went anyways, I needed to see… I don't remember what it was that I saw, but I woke up and just cried…I didn't see Gaara in my dream at all Kanky. It scares me, I'm absolutely terrified that something horrible is happening to him."

Kankuro just watched as she held her knees once again trying not to cry.

"They're going to bring him back Nia. They'll bring him back." She simply nodded her head. The door opened and Temari and Baki walked in, and the blonde was furious.

"They can't do this, it's freeking ridiculous!"

"What's wrong Tem?" Baki was the one who answered.

"The council refuses to allow any teams to go out and search for Gaara.

"What!" The brunette behind him stiffened up as slowly she turned her head to face team Sabaku.

"What did you just say?" she said in a soft voice with an underlying tone of something Kankuro just couldn't put his finger on…Was that killer intent radiating from the tiny brunette?

"The council refuses to allow any teams from Suna to go retrieve Gaara." Baki repeated.

"That's what I thought you said. Excuse me." She said standing from the bed, and with slow and unsteady steps made her way from the room. Immediately the three inside it looked at each other before following the small teen.

"Damn she's fast after recovering from something like that!" Temari said, for once they entered the hall the brunette was nowhere to be found.

"You do realize we have to find her." Kankuro said looking at his sister and sensei.

"What's she going to do yell? Look how small she is!" Baki said, however Temari understood the look in Kankuro's eyes, he knew something about the girl that they didn't.

"Baki, she almost broke Sasori's tail just deflecting it with her arm, my puppets did nothing to it, she's way stronger than you think." Temari looked shocked.

"If I'd guess I'd say she was going to visit the council members." Temari said softly. Immediately they hurried from the hospital.

O0o0o0o0

She was pissed, never, ever in her life had she ever been so angry than she was at this very moment. They refused to allow ANY Suna shinobi to go in search of their Kazekage? They refused to try and find her Gaara? She'd put up with a lot of crap from them, but this was what was going to get them killed. She walked through the desert bare footed and only in her hospital gown, she didn't care, she'd heal her feet later if they were burned. She entered the tower and made her way to the council room before slamming the door open making the thirteen people in the room all jump in surprise.

"What the hell is wrong with you people! What do you have against Gaara! Why do you refuse to allow ANY shinobi to go look for him! Tell me!"

"We feel that sending our shinobi off to their deaths for a dead man is useless, Konoha has already sent ninja for him, we needn't waste our precious man power for- Nia walked over and punched the man square in the face.

"You corrupt freekin bastards! He's your Kage! He protects all of you every day and all you can say is that it's pointless to go look for him? If you won't sent a team out we'll go out ourselves. The shinobi of Suna, or at least most of them are loyal to the Kazekage, not the council. You're a group of advisors-

"Who finalizes every decision that involves this village! We're placing you under arrest for the assault of a council member! You two Anbu, arrest that girl!" The man yelled angrily pointing to the brunette. The two Anbu looked at each other before standing in front of the elders just behind the petit teen.

"Our loyalties lie with Kazekage-Sama." They said simultaneously making the council members look at them in surprise and outrage. Nia looked at them as well.

"Could you two let the other shinobi know that we're going to look for Gaara, anyone who wishes to help can, we'll be leaving in an hour from the main gate, Chunin and Genin are to stay behind and protect the village along with the Anbu forces." With a nod, immediately the two Anbu took off much to her surprise. Turning she walked from the room pausing to give the council one last glare before walking from the room. She headed to the Kazekage's mansion and grabbed the pair of clothes she had left in her room (She needed a reason to go back right? wink wink) and quickly got dressed, walking to Gaara's room she grabbed some weapons and put them in the weapons holster. After that she went to Temari's room and found a pair of old sandals that fit her, and after healing her burnt feet the brunette made her way out of the mansion and ran to the main gate.

O0o0o0o0

Temari watched in shock as a group of at least ninety to a hundred ninja were waiting at the gates, and suddenly Nia hopped down in front of them all.

"Ready to go?" she asked looking at the blonde who was dumb struck.

"What?"

"All these people showed up because they want to save Gaara. Go get Kankuro, because when he gets here, we're heading out."

"I'm already here! No chance in hell I'd miss this!"

"Good then we're ready to go." Nia said as the puppet master made his way towards them. Together they made their way towards the land of rivers…Nia only hoped that they'd arrive before it was too late.

O0o0o0o0

How could one describe this? It was strange, he felt as if he were floating in a sea of nothingness, there was nothing as far as he could see, everything was just blank…it hurt at first, by the gods it caused such incredible pain he couldn't fathom how he could stand it. Gaara honestly wondered if he was dying…but then again he couldn't die…he promised he wouldn't. He promised Nia he'd stay safe, that he'd keep the village safe…he broke his promise and he knew it. He wondered where the chocolate haired girl was right now. Was she back in Konoha? She had to be…at least she was safe. Slowly everything was slipping away, and the last thought to cross his mind was what her reaction would be when she learned that he didn't keep his promise. Slowly his world shrank away leaving him in nothing but eternal darkness.

O0o0o0o0

Nia was in the middle of the crowd and steadily being left behind as she tended to a young mans twisted ankle, in no time she had it healed and bandaged up, they were on the boarder of the land of rivers, and for the first time in a long time she was kneeling on grass. Standing she helped the young man up and making sure he could properly run before she hurried towards the front of the group…that's when she realized that they weren't moving. Her blood ran cold as she hurried to the front of the group, and suddenly there it was, they were looking at her with _that_ look, the look of sympathy and devastation. She shook it off as she pushed her way forward, and just like in her dream Naruto stopped her.

"Nia I- She didn't want to hear what he had to say she pushed his arm aside and ducked around Sakura who tried telling her something. She needed to get to the front of the group, she needed to see what they were looking at…deep in her heart, Nia knew, and she was trying so hard to keep those thoughts at bay. Finally she made it to the front of the crown and froze, there he was. She took several stumbling steps towards him before falling to her knees next to the red head.

"Gaara?" she said quietly touching his face gently. "Gaara…wake up, i-it's time to go home." Gently she shook his shoulder. "Gaara please wake up…p-please wake u-up…Gaara? We have to go back to Suna Gaara, wake up..." He was cold, so cold and immediately she couldn't breathe. Nia felt as if her heart had been ripped from her chest and torn into tiny pieces. "You broke your promise." She said in a shaky voice as tears poured down her cheeks. "You promised me…you promised…You said that you'd stay safe...you said nothing bad would h-happen." she said trembling and holding back her pain, it was agonizing, utterly agonizing. "I love you. My heart races when I think about you, and every day with you everything, even the colors I see are brighter. I have no doubts with you because I know what we have is magical, our love can survive anything….Time to me stands still when we kiss, and with you I'm brave…I've loved you for years and could never love another, and I'll love you until the day I die, just like how you love me…" she said kissing the scar on his forehead. The group watched as a green chakra surrounded the girl, she was completely unaware of it.

"Gaara, if you aren't coming back…at least take me with you to where you are." Nia said softly kissing his lips. The chakra began to glow brightly around both of them, and suddenly with a blinding flash time seemed to freeze and the group watched as the girl collapsed.

O0o0o0o0

It was strange, Nia looked around to see only jungle…a completely different landscape from the one she'd just been in.

"**It's about time you've accessed my powers girl, I've waited a long time."** Nia looked around for the source of the voice and only saw a chibi like gorilla.

"I-I thought you'd be bigger?"

"**You only have a mere fourth of my powers girl. You accessed my powers of your own volition, so tell me, what is it your heart desires?"** Nia blinked and swallowed thickly.

"I want Gaara to wake up." She said softly as tears filled her eyes. The small gorilla demon looked at her for a long time.

"**You realize that if I go through with your request and revive the boy and his demon…you will die."**

"I kind of figured…I was in the hospital after almost being killed, all of my chakra was used to try and save Kankuro and to heal myself before I left, I figured I'd be pretty close to empty…but…I love him, and people need him." The gorilla simply nodded.

"**I see, I will give as much of my chakra as I can without killing myself, for I am all that is left of the original four tails Son-Goku." **Nia looked at him curiously…what did that mean?

"I…don't understand…My Uncle Kaji said that my father Roshi was the carrier of the four tails."

"**Yes, he **_**was. **_**However he met his death the same way as this boy, by the hands of the Akatsuki." **Nia ducked her head, she had wanted to meet her father, and now she'd never be able to do so.

"So you're all that's left because they don't know about me?"

"**Correct, eventually in many years I will once again have my full power returned to me, that will be beyond your time."**

"So about Gaara…and Shukaku? You can help them?"

"**Yes, you're aware of the price, Shall I begin?"**

"Please."

"**It was pleasant meeting my host's offspring, I regret we had so little time."**

"What will happen to you?"

"**If by the off chance you do survive I will stay lodged in your body, if this brings your death I will latch onto Shukaku until I can manifest my own physical body, then I will return to the world of demons."**

"I thought that if a demon container dies, the demon dies as well?"

"**Only if the demon is sealed inside of a human, this is a rather unique case that works out quite well for me."**

"I'm glad for that…Thank you." She said bowing before the ape, which simply nodded. Once again her world went dark.

O0o0o0o0

Darkness slowly lifted and Gaara was faced with a bright light.

'Strange, I thought I was dead…is this the light at the end of the tunnel that they speak of?'

"Gaara?" he could see the figure of a person approaching him, and for the first time in quite a while he felt his feet hit solid ground. Immediately he hurried over only to be tackled to the ground.

"Nia? What are you doing here?"

"I came for you…just go that way." She said pointing towards the light as she looked away from him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said with a soft smile. Gaara took several steps then stopped when he noticed that she wasn't following.

"Aren't you coming Nia?" he continued to watch as she smiled sadly at him.

"I'm sorry…I can't Gaara."

"Why?"

'That's the price for bringing you back, I stay and you go…' She watched as light shined on his face, but when she looked back there was no light for her…it was meant for him…only for him.

"Because, it's my time and not yours, I stay and you go." The red head walked back and wrapped his arms around the brunette.

"I would never leave you here…I love you."

"I know…I love you too."

"I could hear what you were saying…bits and pieces…"

"Yeah?" Gaara simply nodded.

"I'll never love another person either if I lost you Nia…_When_ we _both_ make it back…if you'd want to stay in Suna…I'd like that." He said awkwardly making Nia smile.

"I'd love to stay with you, but I think that's a bit inappropriate for non-married couples to live with each other." the brunette said softly.

"Then why don't we get married?" He said simply.

"What?" she blinked in shock, did he just say what she thought he said?

"We love each other."

"Yes."

"We want to stay together."

"Yes."

"So why not?"

"But Gaara, we're both so young, a lot of people would make a huge fuss about something like this." She said softly.

"We'll have a secret wedding then." Nia's eyes widened.

"You're serious?"

"I am."

"Wow….so are we technically engaged now?" she asked with a small smile on her face.

"If you want to be."

"Yes…I do."

"**I now pronounce you Bug and Gaara, you may kiss the bride."**

"Gaara-kun what was that?" Nia asked looking around.

'Kami help us, _she's_ here too?' the red head thought.

"**Come on, where's the kiss, huh? Kissy, kissy, kissy! Let's go, married people kiss, let's see one, a nice big MWAH!"**

"You aren't in my head Shukaku Nia can hear you!"

"**And I care because…?" **The demoness said as she walked from the shadows.

"You're Shukaku?" Nia asked looking at the dirty blonde demoness.

"**Yes, and you're Bug! Nice to finally eat…I mean meet you."** Nia's eyes widened as she took a step behind Gaara.

"Gaara she really won't eat me will she?"

"No." Gaara said as Shukaku smiled showing her sharp pointed teeth making the brunette gulp. "She just likes to mess with people…mostly me."

"**Come on Gaara-kun, you know you love it."** The red head simply shook his head and looked away. "**So tell me Bug, we're trying to solve this-**

"No you're trying to solve this, leave me out of it." Gaara said in annoyance.

"**Fine. The food you bring Gaara for dinner…it's homemade, yes?"**

"Uhh, yeah most of the time."

"**I knew it!"**

"I already told you she made it."

"**That's not what I'm happy about. You and your future children won't starve! I knew she was a good mate!"**

"C-Children? I'm almost fifteen! I'm not having kids for a really, really, long time!"

"**Gaara does she not know the plan?" **Shukaku asked facing the red head.

"What plan? _Your _plan?" Shukaku simply nodded and Gaara held his head in his hand.

"**Come on tell her the plan, she's part of it!" **Shukaku said poking and prodding the red head.

"I've told her none of you crazy ideas and I'm not about to….stop poking me!"

"**Did you forget I'm not in your head anymore, I'll just tell her the plan myself then."**

"Plan? What is she talking about Gaara?"

'Crap.'

"**So you know about the birds and the bees correct?"**

'Oh GODS help us!' Gaara thought as he rubbed his temples.

"Oh I'm well aware being in medicine and all." Nia said simply. Gaara looked slightly relieved, that was one crisis averted.

"**Good, now I don't have to go into detail. I want grandchildren."**

"Ok…." Why did Nia have a feeling that this was going to be a shock to her?

"**About seven or eight…maybe even ten…"**

"TEN CHILDREN? That's two more than last time!"

"I'm not having ten children." Nia said flatly.

"**Ok then eight."**

"Doubt it."

"**Fine, six."**

"Not a chance."

"**Five?"**

"Nope."

"**You're not leaving much wiggle room here." Shukaku said with a sour face. "Fine how many children would you want?"**

"Two, three at the very most."

"**That's more than half the original number!"**

"You wouldn't have to be the one to carry and give birth to all those children! I would! I'll have as many or as few children as I want." Nia said crossing her arms. Gaara watched as the two snipped back and forth going at each other, and he was quite surprised that she could stay toe to toe with a bickering Shukaku, that took skill. Suddenly the sand demon began glowing a bright gold and vanished leaving behind only the glowing aura which made it's way into the red head who stood surprised.

"**I see why you like bug so much."**

'Great you're back in my head…'

"**Oh shut it."**

"Gaara…Gaara do you hear that?" Nia asked softly looking around for the source of the noise, suddenly it was joined by a similar noise.

"Nia…I think their heart beats…?" the brunette listened closely.

"Gaara, I think you're right…there's two of them." They listened as the beating continued, and suddenly they were surrounded by streams of blue.

"What is that?"

"I think it's chakra." Then she could see it, slowly a light began glowing ahead of her as the chakra wrapped around them.

'It's bringing me back! Just me? But what about- Nia looked ahead of her and noticed Gaara standing in front of her holding his hand out to her smiling as the light beamed around him giving him an angelic glow.

"Come on, it's time to go home." Nia laughed as a single tear rolled down her cheek as she looked at herself, see too was glowing with an ether worldly light.

"You're right it is." She said taking his hand as they walked into the glowing light together.

O0o0o0o0

She could hear it, over the murmuring of people, she could hear it…she could hear a steady heartbeat, she could hear air entering his lungs. Then she felt it, she was laying on something warm, she felt him holding her gently squeezing her hand. Slowly Nia opened her eyes and looked around, she had expected a view of the sky at least, because from what she remembered she collapsed…but instead the first thing she saw made her smile and was even better, beautiful black rimmed sea green eyes.

"Hey." He said softly still holding her in his arms as he sat on the ground being supported by Naruto.

"Hey yourself." Nia said with a smile.

"Welcome back Nia-Chan!"

"Hi Naruto-Chan. What happened?" Nia asked looking around.

"Chiyo gave her life to bring you back." Gaara said quietly.

"Man it was totally weird first you were glowing all bright then you collapsed, then Gaara was all like alive again but he wouldn't wake up so we tried waking him up with Chakra and stuff but it just didn't work so then Temari started talkin about soul mates, and Chiyo-Baa Chan did this thingy and gave you a whole bunch of chakra, then after that Gaara woke up but you were layin on him. Just whole bunch of stuff happened, but it all turned out well." Naruto said as Nia simply blinked at him as she tried to piece what he said together in her head.

'Glowing? That must have been when I contacted my biju for the first time…so he brought Gaara back but he didn't wake up…that must have been when we met in that dark place. Temari was talking about soul mates…was she talking about me and Gaara? Gaara wouldn't leave without me so he was in a coma type thing I guess…Chiyo must have brought me back to make Gaara wake up…and Gaara woke first because he was probably waiting longer than I was…but what was it that Chiyo did to me?'

"Ok, I understand everything but one…what was it that Chiyo did to me?"

"She gave you her life force, not her chakra." Sakura said softly still kneeling next to the old woman. It was then that Nia realized that she wasn't sleeping…She had given her life to bring Nia back. Her breath caught in her throat as she immediately bowed her head.

'Thank you Chiyo-sama. May you rest peacefully where ever you go.' Slowly she stood leaning on Temari who helped support her and watched as Gaara stood with Naruto's help. At Gaara's command the entire group stood silently and prayed for the woman who gave her life so another could live, they all prayed for Elder Chiyo. Temari watched as the people gathered around the two afterwards and smiled when Kazekage fan-girls went running up to the red head only to get sent a piercing glare from the brunette as the two stopped in their tracks frozen stiff. Temari swore that the brunette had some kind of laser vision with the reaction she got from the two girls, and the sight made her laugh a bit. Kankuro saw it to and grinned at his sister. As if to further prove her silent point that Gaara was hers Nia once again kissed the red head in front of the group. Temari watched as the souls of the two fan girls flew from their mouths and up into the sky as they walked away heart broken.

O0o0o0o0

Gaara once again stood at the village gates saying good bye to the Konoha Shinobi, as much as he wanted her to stay, he knew Nia had to return to her village. They stood in front of each other, Konoha and Suna shinobi, they had said their good byes, and Gaara had offered his hand to Naruto and after some help from his sand they shook hands, the forged steel of their friendship, a silent thank you for bring back and saving not only his life, but the life of the person he loved. Team Guy and Team Kakashi had begun to walk away now alone stood Nia and Gaara who continued to stare at each other.

"Stay safe this time will ya?" Nia said with a scowl making Gaara smile softly.

"I'll do my best, I promise." He said pulling her into a hug.

"Good, because I think I've proven that it's no joke when I say I'll die if anything ever happens to you." She said wrapping her arms around the red head.

"I love you and I'll see you soon." Gaara said leaning down and giving the brunette a kiss.

"I love you too and I hope to see you soon as well." Nia said giving the red head one final kiss before taking several steps back and hurrying towards the retreating Konoha shinobi. She turned back once to blow him a kiss before running towards her comrades. Little did the brunette know, but she'd be seeing the red head much sooner than she had expected.

**That's the end of this chapter, so please let me know what you thought, I worked really really hard on this one so drop a review, even if it's just a ...**

**Thanks, and i'll update soon! the next chapter's in progress, and this story's coming to a close, maybe in the next 5 chapters or so...**


	28. The woes of being a teenager

A Tough Life

Chapter 27

The woes of being a teenager

Gaara was set to meet Tsunade and discuss with her whatever the council had put on the list of stuff he could care less about, while it was important for Suna that he make these trade agreements, his true motives for going to Konoha were not for his country's benefit, but for his. After the countless hours of trade agreements he was finally released for the day.

"**Freedom, I love it! Man those council members are just as boring as the ones in Suna, so you're on your way to the house?"**

'Yeah, Nia's right we're young so I figured I could talk to her aunt and uncle about this.'

"**Good luck."**

'Thanks, I feel so reassured now.' Gaara thought as he made his way down the street as he headed towards the familiar house. At this time of day Nia would be working her shift in the hospital and Gaara felt it would be the perfect time to go visit her adoptive parents, walking up the path to the house he was greeted with Koori who was hanging clothes up on a line to dry.

"Gaara! It's so good to see you hun! I'm so happy to see that you're doing well especially after what happened, when Kaji and I heard we were so worried about you!" The blonde said hanging up the last blanket before walking over to give the red headed kage a hug. "If you're here to see Nia she's on a mission with her team, but if you're hungry I was just about to make lunch, come in." Gaara followed Nia's aunt into the familiar house and accepted a glass of iced tea she handed to him.

"So tell me what brings you by today?" the blonde said with a smile as she began pulling items from the fridge to make lunch.

"I wanted to speak with you and Kaji. Do you know when Nia's returning from her mission?" Koori thought for a moment as she put together a quick sandwich.

"I think she's coming back tomorrow evening. Why what was it that you wanted to talk to us about?"

"Do you remember back when you and Kaji told Nia of her biju? And how with the appearance of the nine tailed fox you felt that because life can be taken so quickly you wanted to live it to the fullest with each other?" Koori placed the food down and sat across from the red head.

"Yes, I do remember that, are you feeling the same way because of what happened with the Akatsuki?"

"I think so…I came here because I wanted to ask permission to marry your niece." Koori's eyes went wide.

"You're both so young! And you're running an entire ninja village at only sixteen! Are you sure you know what you're getting into? Marriage is a compromise between two people who promise to honor and commit to that one person for the rest of their lives, would you be willing to honor that commitment until the day you die? Would you honestly say that you two could vow to be together and stay committed to only each other for the next sixty or seventy years Gaara?"

"I would, I would die for her any day and she's proven that she would do the same for me, she has done the same for me. I promise I would never hurt her, I would honor not only the vows we'd make to each other, but my promises to you and Kaji as well. I love her." Koori simply smiled at him.

"That was beautiful sweetie, and you've had my blessing from the beginning." She said hugging Gaara who stared at her in surprise. "Kaji however will be a much tougher customer to win over. There will be a lot of rules on his end that he'll want you to follow Gaara."

"I'm willing to follow them all down to the smallest detail." He said firmly once again making the blonde smile.

"That's good, and I'm happy to hear that, I truly am. Kaji will be home in an hour or so, if you aren't busy would you mind helping me in the drying room?" Gaara nodded and followed his hopefully soon to be mother-in-law up the stairs.

O0o0o0o0

It was raining in the land of waves, not even just rain but torrential down pours ever since they had arrived. The small ocean country had requested extra detail from the leaf while the annual festival was being prepared, for lately vandals were terrorizing festival goers and shop keepers. To Nia it was raining far too much for her liking, this place was the complete opposite of where she preferred to be right now. It was cold rainy and wet, she longed for the hot dry heat of the desert once more.

"Nia, Ai and I are going to do rounds once more, Hana-sensei should be back soon, would you like to come with us?" Raizo, the green eyed blind Hyuga asked.

"Sure, I'll come along."

"Thinking of Suna again?" he asked making the brunette blink.

"How did you know?" he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"It's all in your voice, you want to go back don't you?" he asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I do…I miss him." Nia said softly, and Raizo understood, all she did was speak of the red headed Kazekage since her return earlier this month, and he could hear it in her voice, the way she spoke of him with such loving admiration, he could tell she loved him, and not only could he hear it, but he could feel it as well.

"You my friend are absolutely head over heels for him." The green eyed boy said making her blush scarlet. "I hope you get to see him soon. Let's go, Ai's waiting for us." He said walking from the room as Nia followed.

O0o0o0o0

They had just finished hanging up and removing the dried herbs when the sound of the front door closing caught Gaara's attention as he paused hearing movement down stairs.

"That must be Kaji, are you ready?"

"I don't know." He said simply, he hoped he was, and he wanted to be. They made their way down the stairs and Koori went over and hugged and kissed her husband.

"Hello my love, how was your day?" he asked with a smile as he sat in a chair by the table.

"It was very productive, and quite surprising."

"I'll believe it, how long is Gaara going to stand in the hall way without saying anything?" Gaara blinked in shock but immediately wanted to smack his forehead, Kaji could sense Jinchuriki because of the four tails.

'Can't believe I forgot about that…'

"He's here to talk to us about something important and right now he's just getting his thoughts organized." Koori said simply.

"**Are you going to go talk to him or just become a statue? If you're going to make that your new profession you've got a good start."**

'Shut up!' he growled angrily to Shukaku in his head. Finally he walked into the kitchen where he had the older red head's complete attention.

"Koori said you had something important to talk to us about, what's up?" Gaara walked over and sat at the table.

"I wanted to ask your permission to marry Nia." Kaji didn't look surprised.

"Tell me, what is it you see when you look at my niece?" Gaara sat in silence while he thought about the question, it was obviously a trap clearly it was. If he said something along the lines of 'a beautiful girl' it wouldn't work. Finally he opened his eyes, he had his answer.

"When I look at Nia…I see my best friend. I see someone who knows me more than I know myself, and I see someone I want to spend the rest of my life with. I see the one person in this world who completes me and accepts me as I am and wants to love me the way I love her. I see my soul mate." The trio sat in silence for a moment before Nia's uncle finally responded.

"That's an acceptable answer. How do you think things will proceed, tell me what you expect."

"Because I'm Kazekage I can't leave Suna, so I'd expect Nia to come and live with me in the desert, and I'd expect her to come and visit you both whenever she'd like, and I'd expect you both to do the same."

"Another acceptable answer," Kaji said crossing his arms. "What do you expect in the future?"

"I expect arguments and fights, I expect make ups, I expect good moments and bad ones, but I can see us surpassing all of that, and should she ever want one…I expect to have a family many, many, years from now."

"Acceptable once again. You'll receive my blessing but not before acknowledging some rules first. 1) you are not to be married until she is fifteen. 2) once you are married she may live with you, however she will return to us for a week every month until she is of age which in Konoha would be eighteen. 3) there will be absolutely NO, NONE, ZERO, NADA, ZILCH, at all sex until she is of age and she's ready. Those are the three main rules, and you will follow them is that understood?"

"Completely understood, I'll follow every single one of them."

"You bet you will. My niece is the only blood relative I have any more. If anything ever happens to her because you let it, you'd better be warned that there will be hell to pay." Kaji said sternly.

"I'd expect no less."

"Good, then you have my blessing." The two red heads stood from the table and shook hands as Koori clapped her hands happily. "Welcome to the family Gaara."

O0o0o0o0

"DRY LAND!" Nia yelled happily as they made it to Konoha which seemed to have avoided all of the rain storms that had hit the land of waves. "I've never ever been happier to see dirt! Dry dirt that clouds up when you kick it!" Immediately she kicked the loose dirt with her shoe making a cloud of dust.

"Nia you're special." Ai said simply as she shook her head and followed her sensei into the village.

"I know I'm special Ai, you're just jealous!" Nia called back teasingly making the Aburame turn back to stick her tongue out as Hana shook her head and continued on her way.

"Sometimes I'm tempted to agree with Ai you know." Raizo said with a smirk, suddenly the boy stopped and turned his head towards the stone faces. "Nia, there's a foreign chakra there." He said pointing to the hokages etched in stone. "It's quite a prominent chakra but also familiar…you should go investigate it." The brunette simply blinked at him.

"Why me?"

"It's someone you know." He said with a telltale smirk. Nia blinked at the boy and looked at the stone faces until she noticed a very small figure on the lookout point just above them.

"Ok, I'll go look. Bye!" She said running off towards the lookout. It took the girl about five minutes before she reached the trail that led to the top of the stone faces, however when she did she was surprised to find her aunt at the bottom of the trail.

"Auntie what are you doing here?" the blonde blinked and merely smiled.

"Just going for a walk love." She said making her way up the trail.

"Oh…ok…?"

"Your uncles farther up, I think he had something he wanted to talk to you about." Nia nodded and began walking a bit faster until finally her uncle came into view.

"What's going on? Is everything alright? Auntie said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yeah, I just wanted to say that I love you kiddo, I don't think we say it enough."

"Very good point love." Koori chimed in.

"So we're going on a family walk to the top of the stone faces…because we love each other?"

"No, we're stopping here, you're going to the top alone." Kaji said simply.

"What? Why what's going on?" Nia asked prodding her uncle's arm.

"Just know that something special's waiting for you on top." The red head said simply as Nia continued to look at the pair weirdly.

"Actually, it's not really a something waiting for you, it's a someone." Koori said with a wink to the brunette who gasped in realization as she began sprinting up the trail.

"Do you think she'll say yes?" Koori asked with a knowing smirk.

"Yeah, as much as I don't want her to leave, I know she'll accept. I'll just miss my kid."

"I know Babe, me too, I'll miss our baby too."

"Remember when she was five and swore all boys had cooties?"

"Yeah, I do Kaji."

"I wish she was still five."

"Me too."

O0o0o0o0

Gaara leaned against the rail looking over the village as it glowed with the warm colors of the sunset, he smiled softly as he felt a familiar presence approaching, and heard rapid footsteps. Then he heard it, the gasp of happiness, he looked over and the girl of his dreams was beaming at him as she hurried over.

"Gaara what are you doing here?" Nia asked happily as she hugged the red head who hugged her back after they shared a kiss.

"I had some business to attend to, now I have one last thing to do. Will you come and stay with me in Suna?"

"Gaara." Nia said stepping back and looking at him sadly. "I want to, I really do but my aunt and uncle would never agree to let me do that."

"What if they did agree?" Gaara asked suddenly making the brunette blink.

"Huh?"

"What if they agreed to let you stay with me? What if they agreed to let us get married?"

"Then I'd go with you in a heartbeat you know that. What? What are you doing?" she asked watching as he went onto one knee as her heart raced.

"I've already talked with your aunt and uncle, and they've given me not only their blessing but their permission to make it official." He said as he pulled a small box from his pocket opening it and watching as Nia covered her mouth with her hands as she stood in shock. It was a beautiful platinum ring with a heart shaped diamond.

"Nia Kitamura?"

'**Wow you remember her last name, what did she tell you it once? Hehehe how cute you probably read it off the mail box.'**

'SHUT UP!'

"Gaara Sabaku?"

"Will you-

"Yes…

"do me the honor-

"Yes!

"of marrying me?"

"YES!" she screamed throwing herself at him and knocking the red head to the ground as she hugged him tightly and kissing his face all over.

"How'd you ever get them to agree?" she asked beaming as the red head placed the ring on her finger.

"We had a very long conversation that spanned over the last two days but after agreeing to follow a list of particular rules, your uncle agreed."

"I'm so, so, happy right now Gaara…"

"I'm happy too Nia."

"What rules do we have to follow?" The brunette asked still lying on the red head.

"There's about thirty of them so far…there are three main ones though." Gaara said shifting his arm out from underneath him.

"Ok, let's have them."

"First, we can only get married after your fifteenth birthday."

"Ok, that's in a month, rule two?"

"You can live with me only after we're married, but one week every month you're to go back to Konoha and stay with your aunt and uncle until you're of age." Nia was quiet for a moment before responding.

"Fair enough…and rule three?"

"Well this one's kind of a given. No sex until you're ready and until you're of age."

"Well that's about three years from now. Let's just say until we're both ready to go that far we won't because if it happens it happens, it's not like I'd regret it if it was with you. After all you'd be my husband by then."

"Sounds like a plan." Gaara said watching as the sky darkened and stars began peeking from the sky's inky blue depths.

"I love you Gaara."

"I love you too Nia, but I think we should get going soon, it's starting to get dark."

"Maybe."

"Are you going to go tell all our friends the good news?" Gaara asked watching as Nia still lying upon him contemplated her answer.

"Actually…I don't think I will. If we make a big deal about this it will get loads of attention especially with you being the Kazekage and all. That would put targets on us you know…people might try and hurt me to get to you. We'll keep this hush, hush, for now. We'll only those who are important like my family and yours. I mean I'd love to tell my friends, and I know you'd want to tell Naruto with him being your best friend and all, and I'd love to tell him too but he'd get so excited that the secret would be blown in days…" Nia said quietly. "We'll have a nice quiet secret wedding with only our family, my aunt and uncle, and your brother and sister, and when we get a bit older like maybe in our twenties we can have a ceremony and invite all of our friends and throw a party and act like we're doing it then."

"**Great plan Bug, and I thought I was the brains."**

'What are you talking about?'

"**Let's just face it, I'm putting it out in the open for the world to hear-**

'The only one who can hear you is me because you're in _my_ head.'

"**You suck at scheming. There I've said it your ability to come up with a plan to trick or fool people sucks immensely. Face it, if it weren't for my scheming skills you'd be nowhere in life."**

'When the hell did I ever need to scheme?'

"**Plenty of times!"**

'Like when? Name once.'

"**That time with the thing when we went to that place….just shut up."**

'Yeah, shush.'

"Talking to Shukaku?" Nia asked looking into the pale green eyes.

"Yeah, she says I suck at scheming." The brunette simply laughed. "How did you know?" he asked.

"You kind of spaced out for a bit." She said softly.

"I see." Gaara said looking up at the brunette who still lay on him looking into her eyes intently. Reaching up he pulled the brunette closer bringing her lips to meet his as he ran his fingers through her wavy brown hair loving the feel of the silky tresses, his other hand rested on her back rubbing in small circles. Nia practically melted into the kiss making Gaara smile softly, he knew she absolutely adored having him rub her scalp. Tilting her head the brunette deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around the red head's neck as he turned pinning her beneath him. Slowly he moved from her lips and made his way down her neck making Nia blink in surprise when she felt his teeth graze against her skin making her shudder, though not in a bad way.

'Well this is new.' She thought as he nipped along her neck placing a kiss on the sensitive skin right above her collar bone making Nia sigh softly as he gently bit the same place. She raked her nails through his messy red hair urging him to continue as Gaara let out a sound which seemed to be a mixture of a purr and a growl as he continued working his magic and making the brunette light headed with all of the overwhelming sensations she was feeling. Just as it felt she couldn't take another moment of the sweet torture on her neck, Gaara once again worked his way to her lips devouring them with his own. His tongue lightly grazed her bottom lip asking for access which the brunette allowed meeting him with her own. Gaara felt as Nia shifted beneath him to get a better angle, and in the process her leg brushed against him making the red haired teen let out a shuddering breath. That simple and accidental action sent such a wave of pleasure through his body and he knew immediately two things, one he wanted to feel more if it, much more, and two he _had_ to stop. Gaara knew that if he didn't stop now, he might not be able to control himself if they continued as they were going. Restraining himself he pulled away from the brunette who lay panting softly beneath him.

"I think we should stop now, it's getting late." He said carefully climbing off the brunette, and helping her up. He watched as she stood brushing the grass from her clothes with a slight blush, taking each other's hand they began to walk down back to Nia's house, the brunette watching with utter elation as the ring glinted in the moon light.

"**Heh, lookie there Gaara, you marked her."**

'Huh?'

"**Look at her neck."** Gaara could hear the amusement in Shukaku's voice and when he glanced over he noticed the small purple mark on her neck and blinked in shock.

'I did that?'

"**Yep, got a little hot and heavy? Hehehehe tried out something new that you liked huh?" **Shukaku asked in a teasing voice as Gaara's ears tinged pink. Releasing her hand Gaara gently touched the mark on Nia's neck making her stop.

"What is it?" she asked curiously.

"I hurt you."

"What? No you didn't, why would you think that?"

"I bruised your neck." Gaara said softly making Nia blink. Taking her forehead protector and pulling it from her arm Nia used it as a mirror and gasped.

"My uncle is going to _kill _me if he sees this!" she said in a panicked voice. Nia chewed her thumbnail nervously as thoughts ran through her head until she blinked. "Let's go!" The brunette said hurrying down the path as Gaara followed behind her wondering just what was going through her head at the current moment. He was relieved he hadn't hurt her but when she seen the mark Nia had flown into such a panic it threw his relief right out the window. They quickly arrived at a florist shop and the brunette ran inside and immediately began talking to a blonde Gaara recognized as Yamanaka Ino.

"Nia what brings you here?" the blonde asked happily.

"Ino I need your help." Hearing this, Ino blinked.

"What's up?" To the blonde this was strange, for years she'd gone to the brunette's family for their herbal medicines, and although she'd spoken to the girl several times it was nothing that had really made them close friends, so of all people who she'd expected to ask for her help, Nia really wasn't on the top of that list. She'd always been a kind girl, so when the brunette came in so frantically asking for help the blonde couldn't help but agree to do so. Now she was just wondering what she was getting herself into.

"You're good with make-up." Nia said making it sound more like a statement than a question as Ino nodded quietly not having expected this kind of question. "Help me!" she said pointing to the hickey on her neck. Ino blinked in surprise, this was what she needed help for? All that panic for a little hickey on her neck? Suddenly she burst out laughing.

"Really, that's all? I thought you were in some kind of huge mess! This'll be a piece of cake." The blonde said leading the relieved brunette into the back room as Gaara watched through the window wondering what was taking place.

"Well you can't really use healing chakra on something like this because there's nothing to heal, believe me, I've tried." Ino said digging into her bag and pulling out a small bottle, a round disk like thing, and a small brush. "The best thing to do is avoid getting them in the first place, but hey, it happens." She said walking from the room and returning with a small icepack. "First, an icepack." She said handing the girl the pack to place on her neck. "The cold pushes the blood under your skin further back into it so it's not so dark, it shrinks the blood vessels. Second," She said now holding up the small bottle. "Concealer, shake up the bottle and dab a little bit on your hand to warm it up so it doesn't leave creases." She said applying it over the much lighter but still noticeable mark on Nia's neck. "Last is powdered foundation." Ino said popping open the disk and revealing the packed powder and lightly covering the tip of the brush with it as she dusted it over the concealer on the brunette's neck. "And Tada! All done and nothing to see!" the blonde said holding up a mirror so Nia could see her now mark free neck.

"Ino you're amazing thank you so much!" Nia said happily.

"Not a problem, you can keep the make up too, it's a few shades too dark for me anyways, just don't forget to cover it back up in the morning and touch it up frequently. It's a good thing it was fresh because if it wasn't the icepack wouldn't have had any affect. It should clear up in a few days now."

"I really can't thank you enough, is there anything I can do to repay you?"

"Maybe, half off the next time I need some of that numbing salve?"

"I'll give it to you for free! You've no idea how much you just saved me." Nia said happily giving the surprised girl a hug.

"Sure…any time…?" Ino said leading the girl from the room and staring in surprise as she bowed to her before hurrying from the shop. The blonde watched in fascination as Nia clapped her hands happily as she stood in front of what appeared to be a red haired male and showed him her neck. Ino tried looking at his face but the sign on the window obscured it much to her dismay. The blonde blinked in shock when they walked by.

'That was Gaara! Was…was he smiling?' Immediately thoughts barraged the blonde's mind, there were rumors surrounding the young Kazekage about dating a woman from another land, but that was the thing, they were just rumors and nothing else. Never had she imagined they'd be true, and never even in her wildest dreams did she ever see the shy brunette being that woman.

Then suddenly it clicked and she felt her mind freeze up. Nia had a hickey on her neck, she was dating the Kazekage Gaara, which means he…gave that….to her…? The thought threw the blonde for a loop. Gaara was never an emotionally open person in general so the thought of him ever making out with someone or even kissing them literally blew her mind, and yet right in front of her was proof that that side of the normally stoic boy existed. The very thought made her cheeks stain crimson. To say Ino was floored would have been the understatement of the century.

O0o0o0o0

Nia was so incredibly happy and the sight made Gaara smile softly as she jumped up and down clapping happily before him as she showed him her neck.

"Now my uncle can't kill me! She said it should be gone in a few days." Nia said happily taking him by the hand as they walked away, her fiancé smiling back at her as together they made their way back to the house. As they walked in her aunt and uncle sat at the table facing them looking excitedly nervous.

"So, is anything new?" Koori asked trying her best not to sound eager to hear her niece's response.

"Nope, nothing new, same old same old." Nia said walking over to the table and grabbing an apple as she sat down. "I'm just engaged now is all." Her aunt squealed happily and hugged the brunette while her uncle smiled softly. Immediately the blonde began bombarding her niece with questions about the wedding. Where would it be? How many people? When? What day? How soon? Would they wait and have a long engagement? She was surprised with her nieces answers. The wedding would be in Konoha, that she and Gaara had already agreed to, there would be immediate family only no friends, it would be a few months after her fifteenth birthday so in September or October, that was Gaara's idea having yet to see the bright gold and red autumn leaves on the trees in Konoha, the day didn't matter to either of them though Nia preferred a Saturday only so neither her aunt or uncle had to miss work.

After an hour or two of talking her aunt and uncle were satisfied with the answers they received, and koori decided she was going to put the whole thing together for the pair. Once they had finished talking the brunette was exhausted as she yawned softly. Soon enough her aunt sent her off to bed, and after wishing his new in-laws a pleasant evening Gaara made to leave, but Koori being her typical self, told him to use the spare bedroom, and when he politely declined she forced him to do so.

There was a reason he didn't want to sleep at their house that night, and the reason was one floor below him and two rooms over. He was the strongest ninja in his village sure, he was a kage, and held control of the one tailed demon however there was one thing people seemed to forget about him. He is sixteen. He is a _teenager._ Not just any kind of teenager, but a very hormonal male one at that and it was taking every bit of self-control he had not to go downstairs and continue what they had started earlier. Since he couldn't sleep right now the red head closed his eyes and began to meditate trying to clear his mind. That ended in utter failure for once his mind cleared the image that popped into his mind immediately was when he had accidentally walked in on Nia after she'd gotten out of the shower.

He shook his head and opened his eyes walking over to the window to get some much needed air. He was kind of hoping for a blizzard, that or he'd need a cold shower very soon. There was no blizzard. Taking the pajamas offered to him earlier in the evening Gaara made his way to the bathroom and after giving himself a quick scrub down and relishing in the heat of the warm water he turned the nozzle from warm to arctic. He _hated_ cold showers with a passion, and absolutely despised them, however he couldn't deny that they were effective because afterwards he was so cold the only comprehensible thought in his head was to curl up in the covers and get warm. He stood under the icy stream for what felt like days, but in reality was probably only a few minutes or so until finally he could take no more and shut it off drying and dressing himself as fast as he could. All that was left was to curl up under the blankets and seek warmth in their depths.

Finally his mind had cleared, nothing existed but the thoughts of generating heat to warm his freezing body, now…now he could rest. Just as he had settled with the blanket wrapped around him, just as he was about to close his eyes, the sound of the door creaking open met his ears.

"Gaara, are you still awake?" Came the soft feminine voice of the girl who he'd just banished from his thoughts.

'Kami why? Why am I being tested so?'

"Yes, I'm awake." He heard footsteps and the door click shut and felt the bed sink down slightly.

'Why, why, why? Why did I even ANSWER!'

"I can't sleep, can I lay here with you for a bit?" she asked softly.

'No, you can't or I'll end up jumping you…' he thought still shivering under his blankets as he had yet to answer.

"Gaara?" he mentally sighed.

"Sure."

"**Wow, you're fighting a losing battle tonight, you're gonna have to live in snow country after this one." **Shukaku said laughing at her host's misery.

'Why is this happening to me? Why are the gods taunting me so?' he thought feeling the brunette laydown beside him and snuggle against him.

"**Beats me."**

"Whoa, you're freezing Gaara! You aren't getting sick are you?" Nia asked as her warm hands brushed against his cold arm.

"No, I just got out of the shower."

"Well I'll warm you up then." Nia said innocently having only good hearted intentions and wrapping her arms around him, pulling the red head close to her as she snuggled against him. While he reveled in the warmth, the only thing Gaara could truly concentrate on was the feeling of her well-endowed chest pressed against his back as she held him tightly. He could feel his self-control wearing thinner than it had ever been stretched right now, his body was screaming at him, touch her, taste her, do something. It was difficult to resist and she was making it no easier on him. Nia sighed in content, her warm breath tickling the back of his neck and pushing him over the edge.

In mere moments he turned over pulling the brunette as close as humanly possible as his lips crashed against hers. While thoroughly surprised at his actions Nia didn't resist as she kissed him back. He could taste the cinnamon taste of her tooth paste, and the subtle taste of Jasmine tea. He let his hands wander, and wander they did, while one stayed massaging her head to keep her content, the other brushed along the length of her body and eventually made its way up her shirt and cupping her breast and massaging it through her bra making Nia gasp into his feverish paced kiss as her eyes opened in shock as she felt him unbutton, and pull the shirt open for easier access as his kisses steadily began to move lower.

"G-Gaara?" she asked nervously watching as he paused to look her in the eyes as he held a finger to his lips silencing her in an instant. His eyes had become a much darker green more of a jade than a sea foam and held such a heated gaze the sight made her heart race, though not with fear but anticipation as she let him continue albeit still nervous. Once again he descended upon the sensitive tissue on her neck licking biting kissing and teasing being sure not to leave so much as a mark to be found or an area untouched. The hand which had been massaging Nia's head now ran down her back pulling her even closer as his teeth grazed her shoulder as he gently bit down in varying degrees, sometimes gently, other times not so much, but never once did he break or bruise her delicate skin. The brunette panted heavily as still he kneaded her breasts going from one to the other and he watched as she bit her lip to keep from making a sound. The whole time she allowed him to do such things, Nia could feel a strange sensation building up in her chest. She loved him, and she wanted to do these kinds of things with him, she honestly did, but he was going way too fast right now for her to be comfortable.

"Gaara, slow dow-mmmm!" Now she truly was nervous, instead of listening he'd simply cut her off with another kiss, what if he wanted to go farther than this? What if he didn't listen when she told him to stop? Suddenly she recognized that feeling in her chest, for the first time ever, he was scaring her. Nia hated that feeling, he was her best friend and boyfriend, she shouldn't ever be afraid of him…but right now she was.

"Please stop." The brunette whispered in a shaky voice, and much to her surprise, he actually did.

"**I said pay some freekin attention damn it! I've been trying to get your attention for the last ten minutes!" **Shukaku snapped stomping her foot sending a chakra surge through the teen's head giving him a headache and earning his complete attention.

'What?'

"**Pay attention to your mate."**

'What the hell do you think I've been doing?'

"**She's afraid of you, look in her eyes and see for yourself, you're scaring her. You're stuck in sensory overload too focused on the sensations and not focused enough on your mate, you're on freekin' auto pilot you damn zombie so cut it the hell out!"** Gaara closed his eyes pulling himself out of his mindscape and began pushing away everything he'd been feeling wiping his entire emotional sleight clear and emptying his mind, and then he heard it, a shuddering breathing. He focused on the sound, and realized that it was right below him. Immediately his eyes opened and the sight that greeted made him feel more like a monster than anything he'd ever done in Suna had.

Nia looked to be on the verge of tears and she was holding her shirt together making Gaara blink in shock. He didn't even remember doing that. The last thing he remembered was the brunette wrapping her arms around him and snuggling into his back, after that everything was blank, he just felt the sensations as they hit him.

"Nia, we didn't- I didn't…did we?" The brunette understood but simply shook her head in silence. "Please say something, anything please…" Gaara watched as her lip trembled.

"You scared me." She said quietly, so quiet he had to strain to listen. Then he watched as the tear fell followed by another and immediately his eyes widened at the sight. "You scared me Gaara." He watched as the brunette tried with very shaky hands to button her shirt back up but seemed to be having difficulties. Slowly he reached over and placed his hands on hers, and in moments Nia looked back up at him with nervous eyes. He hated the way she was looking at him, it was breaking his heart just to see the underlying fear in her eyes, there was not a lot, but it was there. Gaara moved his hands from hers and began quickly re-buttoning her shirt. Once he had finished relief was setting in for both of them, and Gaara felt much happier to no longer see fear in her watery eyes, now there was just slight apprehension and relief.

Gaara helped as Nia moved to a sitting position and slowly she leaned forward until her head rested on his shoulder. The red head wrapped his arm around her holding the brunette gently in his strong arms and kissed the top of her head before resting his own on hers.

"I'm sorry, I took it too far. I never meant to scare you. Please forgive me."

"I love you Gaara, please don't hate me." Gaara looked down at the brunette in surprise, why would she ever think he'd hate her?

"I love you too, and I could never hate you, why would you think that Nia?" as if sensing his eyes on her head the brunette huddled down farther into his shoulder.

"Because I wanted to stop." She said softly.

"That would be a very stupid reason for me to hate you, or even be mad at you over." Gaara said in a matter of fact voice. "I would have been upset if you'd continued on despite wanting to stop. It's your call, if you're not comfortable tell me to stop and I will." Nia nodded, she felt so reassured now, because he had stopped, she just felt so foolish that she'd been so afraid and Gaara seemed to sense her inner conflict as he held her a bit tighter in a comforting embrace.

"What's wrong?"

"I just feel so stupid for getting so freaked out." She said softly.

"You have nothing to feel upset with yourself for, you weren't ready and that's fine, it really is ok." He said quietly as the brunette nodded silently nuzzling her head farther into his neck. They sat like that for quite some time, and after a while, Nia had fallen asleep against him. Gaara however stayed awake, thinking. There were two major focus points that were revolving in his head. 1) He'd scared her. And 2) He made her cry. Both made him feel completely terrible.

Never did he ever want her to fear him, and she never had until he had given her a reason to do so. He wondered if she'd always have some kind of fear of him in the back of her mind now. He'd seen her cry before too, but watching her cry this night, something was completely different about it, it was because he had made her cry when he scared her.

'I really am a monster.'

"**You say that but she still loves you, she even said so."**

'People say things all the time.'

"**She hasn't lied to you yet."** Gaara thought this was a good point but didn't respond, she had said that, she was even scared that he would be the one who would be angry for wanting to stop.

'I don't understand what happened.'

"**You let your body's urges get the best of you, that's what happened. You have to exercise control over things like that, or situations like these arise…and it wasn't the making out that frightened her, she actually seemed to be enjoying herself. You were going too fast and wanting more from her too soon, you need to tone it down a bit, go at a slower pace."**

'So…I made her uncomfortable? She wasn't afraid I'd hurt her?'

"**Nope, just afraid you wouldn't stop from my opinion." **Hearing this Gaara made a face.

'But I'd always stop if she told me to. Why would she think I wouldn't?'

"**She tried telling you to slow down but you didn't even let her finish. That's when she started getting nervous." **Hearing this, the red head just felt worse. **"However like you said, you did stop when she asked you too."**

'But what if I didn't?'

"**You can't dwell on things that have never happened Gaara."**

'But what if I don't stop next time?'

"**But you will."**

'How do you know that?'

"**Because you love her you idiot." **Shukaku said simply as though that answered everything…in a way it kind of did. Slowly she sank back into the recesses of his mind leaving Gaara to his thoughts, and after a while he knew she was right, he did love Nia, he loved her so much it hurt at times, and he swore to himself that he'd never make her cry or give her a reason to fear him ever again. With this thought he closed his eyes, he could feel her heart beating and it matched his, their hearts were in sync beating to the same rhythm. He smiled softly and rested feeling his heart beat with hers, the steady rhythm lulling him to sleep.

**Tis the end of chappy 27 hopes you enjoyed. Next chapter will be out soon. Please review, and sign the petition to keep the same, they want to pretty much get rid of violent bloody gory stories, anything with sex, consensual or not. They want to restrict the writers instead of actually making sure that the readers are actually of age when they select mature rated stories. The slogan of is Unleash your imagination. I think they should keep it the same, so if you want to keep reading my stories, this one IS rated Mature for violence and possible future lemons, you'll help out and sign the petition to keep writers like me able to post stories readers like you like.**

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**~Nikki~ Hyuga09 ^^**


	29. The world comes crashing down

A Tough Life

Chapter 28

The world comes crashing down

It was a week after her fifteenth birthday, and Nia and Koori were walking through Konoha looking at gowns and dresses, naturally the blonde wanted to go all out with a big poufy ball gown with sequins and glitter, but Nia wanted something a lot simpler. She'd seen a simple white halter top dress that would stop several inches below her knees and loved it. Koori was not so impressed with it, but after twenty minutes of sulking and longing stares at the simple dress Koori relented and immediately Nia went to try it on. She'd never been more in love with any article of clothing than she was with this dress, it was perfect, the fit of it was snug at the waist however the material gave no matter what direction she moved in, it was as if the dress was made for her.

The brunette was completely overwhelmed at the sight of herself in the dress, she could imagine herself wearing the very garment the day she married the red headed Kazekage. She hadn't realized how long she'd been standing in the dressing room looking at her reflection until her aunt knocked and opened the door gasping at the sight.

"You look beautiful Nia, now take it off, we're buying it right now." The blonde said giving the closest thing she had to a daughter a hug hurrying from the room beaming. They had purchased the dress, and Koori was so excited to show her husband that they went straight to his job in the greenhouses, today he was in the mountain cave greenhouses dealing with the very finicky and temperate cave dwelling flora. Little did they know that going to the caves would save their lives.

As they walked down the mountain path leading to the very edge of Konoha where the caves had dwelled, Nia suddenly felt very on edge and tense, freezing in place looking around for the source of her discomfort. She wasn't sure how to explain it as her aunt looked at her questioningly but something felt weird to her, then she could sense it the malevolent dark chakra that was scattered throughout the village.

"Auntie, something's wrong down there in the village, something's happening." Nia said watching as a figure could be seen rising high above the village.

"What is that?" The blonde asked stepping forward and squinting her eyes. Nia was nervous and her heart was pounding, every sense in her body was telling her to get away from the village, and grabbing her aunt she did just that as they ran towards the caves. Just as they reached the entrance both women could feel the shockwave ripple through the ground as a hard gust of air blew them deeper into the rocky tunnels as they tumbled along the ground slamming into the wall and gasping in shock at the impact that knocked them both out. Some time had passed before the two awoke, the blonde pushing herself up as Nia looked around in confusion.

"What in the world was _that?"_ Koori asked rubbing her head as Nia pulled herself from the ground as it all came flooding back to her.

"Auntie, go find uncle Kaji, I'm going back to Konoha to see what happened." The brunette said handing her dress to her aunt and running from the caves as she headed towards Konoha.

It seemed as if all hell had broken loose, the village was utterly destroyed and the majority of the buildings were completely flattened. Nia had no idea where the heck to go first or what to do to help, but as she raced through the demolished village she could hear someone calling out for a medic and quickly hurried towards the sound. Rounding the corner she saw the special Jonin, the famed dragon woman of Konoha Mitarashi Anko and was immediately recognized by her.

"You! Kaji's niece! Come here I need a medic now!" the purple haired woman said hurrying over to her.

"Lead the way." Nia said simply as Anko took off across the debris. "Can you tell me what happened here Anko-san?"

"It's probably the Akatsuki, the same people who attacked the Kazekage and Killed Sarutobi Asuma, their after Naruto. I can't think of anyone else who would be able to cause this much destruction singlehandedly." Nia stared in shock. The Akatsuki? AGAIN? The same people who killed her Gaara and caused her so much pain and torment, they were after Naruto too? Nia shook her head and to her things had just begun to settle down. They raced across the wreckage and finally came across a pair of teens, one a young blonde male and another a young brunette female who seemed to be impaled by a rusted metal rod through her shoulder, it was obvious the girl was panicking because the boy seemed to be doing his very best to keep her calm as possible.

"How's she doing?" Anko asked the blonde who looked worriedly up at her.

"Not good sensei, Hanabi's having a full blown panic attack, and she's hyperventilating, but I'm calming her down." He turned back to the brunette. "Good breathe...The medic's gonna check you out, alright? I'm going to move so she can work, keep breathing, I'll be right next to you ok?" Hanabi nodded her head breathing like she had been instructed to. The pale blue glow of Nia's hands lit up the dim area. She was relieved a bit there was no major damage, technically it was just a flesh wound, the problem would be removing the metal rod. Standing the brunette turned and walked out of ear shot with Anko.

"This is really risky." She stated.

"How bad?" Anko asked looking from Nia to her student. Nia sighed as she too looked towards Hanabi.

"There's a seven in ten chance she'll bleed out if we mess this up. While the pole it's self has only caused a flesh wound, but when removing it we could hit her heart, or one of her arteries. This does not bode well Anko. The slightest screw up and we could lose her. We need either Shizune or Tsunade to do this, and with the crisis we're in I don't think that'll happen."

"What about Sakura? She's Tsunade's apprentice, can you go get her?" The Nia nodded hoping that she'd be able to find the Pinkette somewhere in this destruction.

"As long as she doesn't move, she'll be ok. I'll try to find Sakura." Nia said bounding off. Sakura would definitely be helpful in this situation, especially since she focused more on physical healing. Nia knew some tricks sure but she definitely wasn't the best person for the job. Nia made her way to where the hospital used to be and found the Pinkette barking orders and healing dozens upon dozens of wounded individuals.

"Nia! Awesome I've been looking for someone in your family with medical knowledge. We have herbs but I'm not so sure which ones are for what particular healing type."

"I've been looking for you too Sakura, the Hyuga head, Hinata her sister, I think her name's Hanabi is really hurt she's been impaled by some of the wreckage, it could be life threatening if we try to move her." Nia said quickly as she grabbed the herbs showing Sakura how to make the healing paste by simply grinding up each particular leaf with different roots and stems.

"Nia I can't leave here, but I can show you a more powerful healing technique." The pink haired girl said as Nia nodded. The sooner she got back to Anko and Hanabi the better. Sakura quickly flipped through the hand signs and Nia followed them memorizing them. "You'll want to practice that on a few people here first so I can be sure you've got it right and so I can alter your technique a bit if I need to." Nia nodded and did as she was told healing smaller injuries under Sakura's scrutinizing eye. "Excellent. So it's these four plants, leaves from this one and roots from these two and the stem from the last one?"

"Yes, thank you Sakura, I've gotta go now."

"Thank you Nia, just remember that that technique takes a lot more chakra than simpler healing techniques." Nia nodded as she took off heading back to where she'd last seen Anko. Nia returned once again, but was unable to bring Sakura. She noticed however that in the time she'd been gone Hinata arrived, this would be very beneficial for the both of them and Nia watched as Hinata steeled herself as the brunette teen pulled her over. Nia could see the look of recognition. She and her family would make healing salves and grow medical herbs for the hospital, they were often known by sight and not name by a lot of shinobi.

"I know you aren't a medic Hinata, but I'll need your help. Use your Byakugan and try and pull her off that metal rod. Normally this would be a thing you absolutely never do, but with your eyes and dojutsu you will be able to see and avoid any vital points. I'll heal her to the best of my ability, but she'll need to get seen by a doctor." Nia said calmly. Hinata was nervous that much was obvious, but after a moment and a deep breath the bluenette responded.

"Ok, whenever you're ready I am." Hinata said. The process was slow grueling and painful and lasted about 10 minutes. Once Hanabi was free, Nia immediately began healing the younger girl to the best of her ability with the technique Sakura had just taught her. Once Hanabi was declared to be out of the danger zone, Anko turned towards the older Hyuga.

"Hinata we can handle it from here, I'll keep these guys safe. Other people will need your help as well." Anko said softly. Hinata nodded she was right, giving the group one last look Hinata ran off towards the sounds of battle.

"Does anyone else need any kind of medical attention?" Nia asked softly pulling out a capsule from her pack. "This will boost your immune system making it harder for infection to set in. You'll need antibiotics though, my aunt will have some made in a few days, I'll be sure to find you and give you a round then, though you'll probably need a liquid version." Nia said wondering if Gaara and Suna would be willing to send them some medical supplies. That was a foolish thought they might not send much but they'd help as much as they could. Nia was relieved that Temari had already returned from Konoha to Suna, her ambassador's trip finished for the time being. Nia made her way through the demolished village looking for people to help and sending them to the safe houses in the mountains.

Hours had passed and finally Nia sat down on the brink of exhaustion the majority of her chakra had been used healing the wounded and now she had just enough left to fix a broken finger or an infant's arm. Just as the thought entered her head Nia noticed a messenger bird with an awkwardly bent wing with the symbol for Suna carved on the carrying case. 'Or a bird's wing.' She thought to herself. As far as she knew none of the other villages knew of the state of the leaf or what had happened, and right now Sand was their closest ally.

Carefully Nia scooped up the bird and mended its wing with her healing chakra and watched as it flew around before once again landing on her shoulder. Quickly Nia shifted through her bag until she found an empty scroll and something to write with, and after penning out her letter the brunette placed the message in the pouch and tossed the bird into the sky watching as it flew towards the great deserts to the east. She knew it would be a week tops before help of any kind would arrive, Nia just hoped that the survivors of the destruction could survive that long.

O0o0o0

Gaara sat at his desk working on paperwork when a young woman knocked on his door.

"Kazekage-sama, you have an urgent marked scroll signed N.K. It's not clear where it's origins are located however it's being checked for any kind of traps or Justus." Gaara blinked the initials finally registering in his head.

"I know exactly who its' from please bring it to me immediately."

"Yes sir." The young woman said bowing before quickly making her way from the room. Gaara was worried, if Nia had sent him an urgent scroll something must have happened. The woman returned handing the scroll to the Kazekage and after waving her away Gaara quickly opened the scroll, it was filthy and there were blood stains on it and he was hoping to any higher power that they weren't Nia's.

_Gaara_

_Today on the 18__th__ Konoha's been attacked by the Akatsuki, and the entire village is destroyed and in ruins, the village is in desperate need of any kind of help that can be offered, medicine, shinobi to help clean up anything at all. I don't know if you've received any kind of messages or scrolls about this yet but were in dire need of help please, I know this means putting your village out of supplies but anything you'd be able to offer us would be tremendous. I'll send a follow up letter once I find another messenger bird, to let you know what's going on here, be safe._

_Thank you, I love you._

_Nia .K_

Gaara stared in shock at the short letter, Konoha was attacked? The village was destroyed? ! Was Nia and her family alright? What about Naruto and his friends? Were they ok? Gaara stood and walked to his secretary.

"Who's available to go to Konoha on a reconstruction mission?"

"We have twenty-four genin teams available right now for work, there are eighteen Chunin squad cells with Jonin leaders, thirty-six individual Chunin, forty Special-Jonin, and fifty-eight Jonin without teams available in Suna ready for deployment."

Gaara quickly did the math in his head.

'72 genin, 90 chunin, 40 special Jonin, and 100 Jonin. That's 302 available ninja currently in Suna that aren't away on any kind of mission not including ANBU. I could send twelve genin teams, five chunin teams, six chunin, and eight Jonin. Four special Jonin will go to the land of waves, I know they have a lasting peace treaty with Konoha, they can bring supplies and defend the caravan of supplies…so that's 25 Jonin, 36 genin, 21 chunin, and four special Jonin. That's 86 ninja leaving us with 216 to defend Suna not including ANBU or me to protect the village and defend our boarders. Not to mention the ninja still currently away on assignment as well.'

"How many are away on assignment currently?"

"Twenty genin teams, thirty-seven chunin, twelve chunin cells with Jonin leaders, fifteen individual Jonin, and eleven special Jonin." Again Gaara did the math in his head.

'With the 36 genin gone that would leave Suna with 96 available genin, 47 available Special-Jonin, 127 available chunin and 47 available Jonin. That Leaves Suna with 533 ninja out of its 619 available for work…not counting medic ninja or those with permanent jobs inside the village. So that would be 533 ninja out of the 893 total shinobi in Suna.'

"Have 12 genin teams, 5 chunin teams, six chunin, eight Jonin, and four special Jonin report to my office especially those with histories of construction and those with jutsu abilities that will benefit clearing out debris and aiding in repair."

"Yes Kazekage-sama that would be…"

"Eighty six ninja, yes. Have them report to my office immediately, the leaders only, and the four special Jonin I wish to see first as they will have a different mission."

"Yes Kazekage-sama." The woman said hurrying off.

Gaara walked back to his office wondering how Nia and her family was doing, that letter was dated the 18th, it was the 19th now. Almost two days have passed since the destruction, it was nerve wracking he couldn't lie. He loved the sweet brunette and was far more worried for her that he'd ever admit to himself. He settled in his office and began writing a letter for the leader of the land of waves. He'd finished quickly and decided to rest his eyes. He closed them for not but a moment before four figures knocked and entered facing their Kazekage.

"You four are going to the land of waves, you will be delivering a scroll to the head of the village. Then you will guard a caravan which will be loaded with supplies as it makes its way to Konoha. Our ally has been attacked and it's our job to help them as they would and have helped us." He said simply handing the scroll to the man he'd dubbed leader. He watched as the four special Jonin left, and after that waves upon waves of ninja cells arrived at his office. Deciding to save time and space he called in the leaders of all the cells and explained the situation and what their jobs would be, and after writing a letter for each cell stating that they were here to help and not to invade he sent the teams on their way, their jobs would be to help re build Konoha and to defend it should they be attacked by foreign shinobi.

His hand was tired and his head hurt and Gaara wanted nothing more than to lay his head on his desk and go to sleep, but he had two more letters to write. Flexing his tired hand he put the pen to the paper and began writing.

_Lady Tsunade (5__th__ Hokage)_

_I was informed of your plight by a reliable and loyal leaf shinobi and I have sent teams of Shinobi to work under your command as Konoha is rebuilt, they will build and defend the leaf's boarders under my orders. There are 86 Suna shinobi in total. I have sent_ _twelve genin teams, five chunin teams, six chunin, and eight Jonin. Four special Jonin will go to the land of waves with a letter explaining your plight, and they will be guarding a caravan with supplies for your village, afterwards they will word on boarder control or rebuilding, again your choice. The Chunin and Jonin are guarding medical supplies, we could not give too much or risk our own village's people. I hope you understand that I have offered and done all I was able to do. May your village continue to prosper, I know your will of fire will burn bright._

_Sincerely_

_Gaara Sabaku (5__th__ Kazekage of Sunagakure)_

Gaara rolled this letter and put it aside marking it urgent before reaching for an empty scroll, once again he began to write.

_Nia, _

_I'm hoping you and your family are well. I've received your letter this morning on the 19__th__ and have immediately sent out ninja with medical and building supplies. I worry for you and I'm hoping you're ok. I'm sorry I couldn't do more than what I was able. I love you as well and more than you'll ever know. Stay safe always,_

_Gaara_

After concluding his letter to the brunette Gaara sent them out to Konoha hoping that some way somehow they managed to get to whom they belonged to. There was nothing classified in either letter, and nothing that would give away the leaf's position, everything was kept quiet enough without giving away too much information. In a few days though he'd be making his way down to Konoha, he wanted to be sure that his shinobi were doing as they were told, and he wanted to personally make sure his fiancé was doing well.

**Sorry it's a bit short guys, I had loads of stuff going on, summer job searches, babysitting, I accidently deleted Microsoft word…..but totally managed to magically fix it…idk how so don't ask lol. I had a bit of writers block too…oh well all gone now. This story's coming to a close soon guys, but that reallllly wont be the end lol. Don't worry, I'll update sooner than you think!**

**Peace out! H~09 =)**


	30. Because I love you

A Tough Life

Chapter 29

Because I love you

Gaara had everything set up, Temari was leading the defenses and was in complete control of that, Kankuro was temporarily in charge, despite how foolish he acted the red head knew the puppet ninja had the smarts to make the right calls when it came to matters of importance, and Baki was to keep an eye on them both. He'd taken the place as the Kazekage during the years between his father's death and his rise to power, the man knew what he was doing, of this Gaara had no doubt.

The moon shined brightly above him as he made his way through the forest, he didn't know if Nia got his letters, or even the Hokage at that. He wondered the condition of Konoha fearing for his friends. The convoy containing medicine and building materials had left Suna four days ago so they should have arrived at the hidden leaf village by now…

"**Well you're almost there so stop wondering and hightail it, sheesh."**

'Someone's getting snippy.'

"**Well I'm worried about Bug."**

'Me too… were only a few miles away from the village and already there's so much damage.'

He could barely believe it, the surrounding forests had up rooted trees and looked as if it'd been ravaged by tornados and hurricanes. Finally after a few minutes he could see the village gates on the horizon, he immediately picked up the pace. When he arrived at the gates he was met with one of his own ninja.

"Lord Kazekage! Sir what are you-?" Gaara understood and motioned for the man to relax.

"I'm checking on the status of the repairs, and I'm here to see several people who are suppliers to our village, I need to see how we were affected as well."

"Yes sir, I understand." The guard said allowing Gaara to pass through the gates. The destruction was beyond what he could imagine. There were tents housing most of the villagers, very few houses still stood. He made his way to Nia's house and found the building completely demolished. He took a step back to look at the wreckage, this was _her_ home and now it was gone. Turning he began walking towards where the hospital had been, wondering if that still stood. After a few minutes he'd found it but the large building that had once been there was no more, there was however a sign.

_All injured and wounded shinobi and civilians please go to the mountain cave shelters, medicine, food, and shelter will be provided for you._

Gaara looked up towards the stone faces and headed in that direction, Nia was a medic so finding her there would be very likely. He'd arrived after climbing over mountains of debris, the signs pointing the way to the entrance. He entered the cavern and found it dimly lit with torches and when he made his way down the long tunnel it opened up into a large open area filled with people, it was a whole underground hide away. Immediately he was flanked by two Konoha shinobi.

"What is your business here?" a kunoichi asked, kunai at the ready, the other ninja however beamed happily.

"Gaara-san? How youthful to see you!" Gaara nodded at Lee and the kunoichi dropped her stance.

"Lord Kazekage… I apologize but I still must ask your reason for being here."

"I'm here to see people important to me and to be sure that they're well. Also to be sure my Shinobi are doing their jobs to the best of their ability. First however, I'm trying to find a particular medic."

"You'll need to see Sakura-Chan Gaara-san! Please follow me." Lee said making his way towards the lower level and into the room swarming with medics and wounded individuals.

"Sakura-Chan!" the green beast said happily, Sakura however had yet to take in the appearance of Gaara behind him.

"Lee, you're on guard duty! Go back to your job!" she said still healing a patient.

"Ahh, but Sakura-Chan, Gaara-san is looking for someone." Hearing this, the Pinkette blinked before smiling happily at Gaara as she looked behind the bowl headed teen.

"Thank you for the support you've provided for our village, the medicine was most helpful, may I ask who it is you're trying to find?" she asked waving bye to Lee as he returned to his post.

"Nia Kitamura, short, brown wavy hair, brown eyes." Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, I know her, lucky for you her shift just ended, she'll be down that hallway in the third room to the right."

"Thank you." Sakura simply nodded as Gaara headed down the hallway Sakura pointed out and counted the doors until he reached the one the Pinkette mentioned and knocked on it. Immediately he heard a tired voice from the other side along with the creak of a mattress.

"I just finished my shift, this is my first break all day and I-" Nia said opening the door and looking up to meet sea green eyes before gasping, Gaara just smiled softly at her. The brunette reached out her hand tentatively laying it on his cheek as if to be sure she wasn't dreaming. Gaara placed his hand over hers.

"I wanted to see that you were ok." He said softly watching as the tears flooded her eyes. He pulled her close wrapping his arm around her small shaking frame as she broke. Nia hadn't allowed herself to feel anything for the past few days, she was needed to heal the wounded, to clean wounds and to make medicines, she couldn't allow her mind to wander on these tasks, she barely had time to think and when she finally got a moment to herself she was so exhausted she passed out until the next morning unless an emergency struck. She'd wanted to cry her eyes out when she saw the caravan from Suna arriving at the village, she had no idea if Gaara had even gotten her letter until the caravan arrived, the following day after the Suna shinobi arrived a Konoha shinobi had found her giving her the Kazekage's quickly penned reply. It filled her heart with such overwhelming happiness to know he cared so much to do all this for them, for her. But never in a million years did she ever imagine he'd come to Konoha with his own village to run.

"Everything's gone…Gaara it's all gone." Nia said burying her head in his shoulder clinging to him as she cried.

"We'll fix it, everything will be the way it was, I promise." Gaara said softly as she nodded silently allowing him to walk her in the room so they could be undisturbed. She looked beyond tired, exhausted didn't even cover it. After setting the brunette on the bed and removing his dusty traveling cloak and jacket he too sat on the bed pulling the girl closely against him simply holding her. He'd known her for years now and had even surprised himself with how easily he could read her body language, by now it was instinctual for him and knew she wanted nothing more than to be held tightly in his arms so he held her.

He watched as she fought sleep wanting to stay awake just to be with him a little bit longer, but it wasn't long before utter exhaustion claimed her.

'Everything's gone she said…but it doesn't have to be.'

"**What are you thinking?"**

'We're going to rebuild…and I'm going to make things right for her. I know I can't do everything, but I know _this_ will make her happy.'

"**In a nutshell you've told me none of your plans you know."**

'In due time you'll see…' he said simply knowing he was annoying Shukaku to no end when he was like this. Much to his dismay it didn't seem like she was rising to the bait.

"**Fine keep your secrets I don't wanna know anyways."**

'Good cuz I'm still not telling you.' Gaara ignored the tantrum Shukaku was throwing in his head and thought of everything he needed to accomplish to finish this task. He'd closed his eyes and lay for hours until he'd finally had a well thought out idea in his head, and not wanting to lose momentum now he decided to put his idea into action. He climbed over Nia who was still sleeping soundly and after giving her a kiss on the forehead left the room.

O0o0o0o0

Nia woke to the sound of knocking on her door.

"Nia, it's Sakura, your shift starts in a half hour." The Pinkette called through the door. Nia yawned and stretched feeling for the warmth and security of Gaara's arms that she'd fallen asleep with only hours ago, feeling nothing she turned and found the bed empty.

'Did I imagine it? Was it just a dream? It couldn't be…I can still smell him on the sheets.' Nia sat up and looked around, his cloak and jacket was still placed in the back of the chair.

'He is here! I knew it couldn't have been just a dream…but where are you Gaara?' She arose and after a very short shower pulled on a pair of her cleanest work clothes and went out to help with the sick and injured. There were a lot less people now, most had made a decent enough recovery to allow them to leave the make shift hospital. Her duties today were to go around and check on the civilians and shinobi that were working and be sure that any injuries obtained during reconstruction were healed, and to pass out vitamins to boost immune systems to prevent a mass illness in the sudden deplorable conditions, they sooo did not need that along with everything else going on. Once she exited the bunker the brunette was amazed at the sight, where there had been nothing but wreckage and debris was now cleared out and the frames of buildings stood.

It seemed that the arrival of the Kazekage sent the Suna shinobi into such a frantic state that they'd already cleared out and framed buildings for a good fourth of the village. Nia went around checking on the villagers and passing out the vitamins her aunt and uncle had made, white for the women, green for the men, and yellow for the children. She was amazed at how the morale of the people had risen so quickly from seeing the frames of the buildings. Shinobi and civilian alike went to work rebuilding the destroyed village. Nia even held back a laugh as she watched a mass of Naruto clones arguing with each other while the original and several other shinobi were hard at work. Nia made her way over to the babbling group.

"Hey you guys, you should get to work before Naruto has to yell at you all." She said with a laugh.

"Nah he doesn't scare us." One clone said bravely.

"Probably not." Nia agreed "But I'll bet an angry Hinata would, last I saw she was on her way here." The brunette bluffed making the clones pale considerably and immediately they began to get to work.

"Thanks Nia-Chan, don't know what I'd have done without you there." The boisterous blonde said with a grin.

"You could have dispelled them you know…or threatened them with your girlfriend. They seem to listen when you involve Hinata-Chan." He opened his mouth to respond but unable to come up with anything closed it. Nia shook her head and handed him the vitamin. "This is to keep you from getting sick." She said watching as he popped the pill and handing the rest to the people in his group. "I'll see you later Naruto…oh have you seen Gaara around?"

"He's here? !" the blonde asked excitedly.

"Maybe, keep working though." She said sternly with a smile as the blonde went back to work. Nia continued her rounds staying away from the southern side of the village for as long as she could, that's where her house was, and the brunette didn't want to see the wreckage her home had become, seeing it once was heartbreaking enough and honestly the brunette wasn't sure she could handle it again. She avoided it as long as possible but eventually ended up near her neighborhood, people were working there and needed the vitamins…she did her best to avoid looking at the remains of her home as she earned everyone's attention and proceeded to pass out the meds and vitamins. Suddenly just as she was about to leave hands covered her eyes making the brunette jump.

"I have something to show you." Immediately she recognized the voice and by some sense of inner direction did she know where they were going.

"Gaara, please I can't see it again…I can't." she said softly tugging at his hands Gaara however refused to budge them as he continued walking towards her house.

"You know I wouldn't do anything to make you upset." He said as they finally came to a stop, he'd worked on it all night, it wasn't done yet, it was close though but it was by far better than it had been before. He removed his hands from her eyes. "Just look." Nia sighed softly before opening her eyes, the sight she'd expected was much different than the one she received. Where wreckage of her home once stood, a similarly shaped building now took its place, though this one was quite a bit larger she stared at it in awe.

"Gaara…did…did you do all this?" she asked turning to him, the red head simply nodded his head as the brunette hugged him tightly.

"Thank you…thank you so much. I-I l-love it." She sniffed trying to keep the tears at bay and failing, she'd cried far too much for her liking this last 24 hours. Gaara seemed to understand as she quickly wiped the tears away with her sleeve beaming at him. For a moment he'd thought he'd upset her, but she just seemed to be overwhelmed with happiness. Smiling softly he grabbed her hand.

"Let me show you." He said softly leading her to the building. "We start down here, the basements bigger, so your aunt and uncle can grow more herbs." He said leading her down the stone steps that led to the basement. He was right, it was much larger than it had been before. Quickly he brought her back up the stairs going through every room and was sure to keep them as they were, her aunt's office, the living room, closet, dining room, kitchen. All of it he was sure to keep as it was. He led her up to the second floor once again keeping the floor plan, however Nia noticed that her room was quite a bit bigger than it had been before, the whole house seemed to be. He led her to the attic and she found that it too was a bit larger. The entire place was framed and walls were up and there was a roof, all it needed was windows, siding, furniture, paint and that was it. She finally paused in the attic and Gaara watched the brunette intensely.

"You've done so much for us…So much for Konoha, so much for my family…so much for me." She said softly turning to face him. "Gaara, I can't ever thank you enough, and I know I could never do anything to repay you for all of this."

"Nia, I didn't do all this expecting something in return. I did it for you, because you needed me, and I always will when you do. I did all of this…" he said gesturing to the house they were standing in, "Because I love you, and nothing on this earth will ever change that." He said pulling the brunette in his arms. "I know this is hard but don't give up." He said holding her tighter.

"Gaara I love you too, more than I can ever say, you're my everything, I love you, I love you so much." She whispered as the red head brought his lips to hers, then to her forehead as he held her tightly against him.

O0o0o0o0

The rebuilding of Konoha took several months, Gaara however had only stayed a week. Nia's house had been completed in four days, and after that the Kazekage went to work clearing out the debris and leveling out the land making the construction rate in Konoha skyrocket before returning to Suna. For the last day he was in Konoha, the red head had been nowhere to be found, and neither was the brunette. That day he and his fiancé had become husband and wife. A wondering monk had been blessing the bodies of the dead and agreed to do the ceremony and also agreed to stay silent about it. They stood together in their clearing, the waterfall crashing behind them as they said their vows. He wished his siblings could be here to see this, and taking a mental note Gaara decided to have another small ceremony in Suna so his brother and sister could attend.

Nia had been given away by her uncle, and in her hair were several white flowers to match her dress as she held a bouquet of wildflowers found in the clearing. Gaara could do nothing but stare, she was beautiful, and more than anything her happiness radiated bathing everything in her pristine glow. Handing her aunt the flowers Nia took Gaara's hands as they faced each other. The monk began speaking, talking about young love and how it contained beauty never before seen by the world, how it was untainted, pure, and innocent. Gaara barely paid attention to the man's words catching only bits and pieces every now and then. He was enraptured by the girl in front of him as she beamed happily. It was when Nia started speaking that his attention focused solely on her words.

"You are my heart, in sickness and health I will care for you, nurture you and love you always. You are my future, and together as our lives continue forward I vow to be faithful to you, my husband, only you never will I stray." Nia said softly meaning every work as she stared into Gaara's sea green eyes, it was his turn now.

"You are my spirit, I will lift you up if you should fall, and hold you when you are weary. You are my life, and my love for without you I am nothing. I will protect you and guard you, even from myself. I promise my love is yours and yours alone, never will I stray, I will remain faithful to you, my wife, as you vow the same to me." At the time they did not have rings to exchange, so using his sand Gaara created rings, the immense pressure of his chakra melding the sand and forming it into the hardest stone as he smoothed it out into a perfect circle. Once the rings were made they each exchanged them with their shared vow: _Through good times and bad I promise to endure for together we stand, stronger united as one, all this I solemnly swear to you. _After this the monk blessed the pair announcing them as married finally allowing Gaara to kiss his bride which he was all too happy to do.

O0o0o0

After Konoha had been brought back to enough of its former glory and Tsunade had sufficiently recovered, Nia had been allowed some time off of her Kunoichi and medical duties at the newly rebuilt hospital to continue her ambassador duties. Smiling softly as she packed her clothes, the brunette after saying bye to her aunt and uncle was soon off to the desert village. At the gate she was met with Temari who was returning to her homeland, her ambassador duties coming to an end for the next few weeks. Together they walked heading towards the great desert country, and the red headed Kazekage the brunette had fallen in love with.

** THE END (of this chapter) No, im just kidding that would be wrong to end the story like this! I actually have the final chapter already finished, and chapter 30 half way done...im not sure just how many chapters are left now but the story is coming to a close... Until next time my dear readers**


	31. speak of the devil and he'll appear

A Tough Life

Chapter 30

Speak of the devil and he'll appear

Beaming bright and shining gold the desert was a sight to behold in the early morning, especially with the sight of the village awakening below. The sunrise was something Gaara rarely missed, he believed in rising with the sun, and he as a Kage wished to watch his village wake from its slumber. Suna was a beautiful place he noticed, not for the first time. But more than anything his eyes were trained just outside the village gates where several specs could be seen making their way towards the village. After watching them long enough to see them approach the gates, Gaara made his way to his office. A pile of mail waited on his desk sorted by his secretary, the most urgent on the top of the pile. It was the usual stuff, bandits near the border, robberies of local stores, but one caught his eye. A missing Konoha ninja had been spotted in the desert, and it was not just any ninja, but one Uchiha Sasuke. It seemed he was traveling with three others, a woman named Karin, and two men, one named Jugo, and the other named Suigetsu. Gaara shook his head, did Uchiha not understand that at the current moment all villages were allowed to go head hunting if they saw him? Or did he want to be seen? Just as the thought entered his head two Anbu appeared in his office.

"Lord Kazekage! Four wanted ninja have been apprehended near the main gate, they have been brought to the interrogation chambers." Gaara nodded and stood making his way to the cells. The walk was short and in that time he could hear the sound of an annoying screeching the moment he neared the interrogation chambers in the jail house. Based on his assumption it was the sound of a woman, and when he entered his assumption was proven to be correct. A red headed woman with glasses stood in the right hand cell screaming at a young looking male with bluish-white hair, a man with orange hair was sitting silently in his own cell next to the man getting screamed at by the red headed banshee.

"Suigetsu you bastard I'm going to freekin kill you when we get out of here you damn ass-!" the red headed woman screeched and already having enough of it Gaara's sand slammed her against the wall covering her mouth in the process and silencing the room.

"Has no one ever told you that prudent silence is wise?" Gaara asked simply looking at Karin whose glasses were askew on her face as she glared at him in outrage. Gaara looked to the Anbu on guard. "I was informed that there were four prisoners, not three, where is the other?"

"He's being interrogated as we speak sir." Gaara nodded walking past the man and entering the room where he found none other than Sasuke Uchiha in the flesh.

"Take your leave and let me speak with the Uchiha." Gaara said simply. The man immediately bowed and exited the room.

"You know I come here to speak with you peacefully and this is what happens? Your Shinobi are as ruthless as you are." Sasuke said simply. Gaara ignored the jab.

"Talk then." The kage said waiting for Sasuke to say his peace.

"Orochimaru has been slain by my own hand, there is however a possibility he could be revived through those infected with his curse seal. I believe you should inform those in the leaf about this. I have also come to say that Itachi of the Akatsuki has also been slain by my hand, along with Kisame his partner who I killed after a failed attempt on the eight tails. The Akatsuki has collapsed in on itself. With the death of their leader Pain social order has been lost. Their paper 'angel' has been found dead along with the body of the newest Akatsuki recruit Tobi, it appears they've killed each other in a battle to the death. As you know Sasori of the sand and Deidara have been killed by Konoha shinobi and your village elder after your biju's extraction, and Hidan and Kakuzu were killed by team ten from Konoha made up of Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. The Akatsuki is finished." Gaara was in shock but did not let it show, was this even a remote possibility?

"Prove it." He said simply. The absence of evidence was not the evidence of absence after all, it could be true, he just wanted proof, Gaara was not foolish enough to allow his village's safety to rest on blind hope.

"I have the rings of Kisame, Itachi, Konan, Pain, and Tobi, I have Kisame's sword, Tobi's mask, and the eyes from the body of my brother who I have laid to rest. I will not disclose the location of his body for personal reasons nor will I give you his eyes but everything else I'll hand over as proof." Sasuke said simply.

"Fine, say I believe you, what are you expecting from this? You're a missing ninja from Konoha who has trained with the sannin Orochimaru, you're a class A criminal in the Bingo book, and you're traveling with felons and wanted shinobi. What do you expect me to do with you? There are warrants for your death especially in the land of clouds, the Raikage is furious with you and demands your life. The other countries are in agreement with his demand, but because Konoha and myself were against it we all have our own policies on what to do with you. So tell me Uchiha, what should I do with you? If I let you go I risk starting a national incident with cloud for not turning you over to them." Sasuke didn't even blink.

"Suigetsu and Karin are both wanted fugitives in not only their own lands but others as well, the only one here who is guilty by association is Jugo, he was nothing more than an experiment by Orochimaru used for his Kekkai Genkai. Keep Karin and Suigetsu and send Jugo and I to Konoha. There I'll await trial, Jugo can be safe and those two pains in the ass will be gone from me."

"I'll think about it. You're to answer every question asked by my interrogators. And the banshee is to be silenced understood?" Sasuke nodded and watched as he turned to leave.

"Hey, I've got one thing to ask." Gaara paused turning his head to show he was listening.

"Did that girl ever get back to Konoha? She said she was a friend of yours…auburn brown hair, brown eyes and had a nice body. She was pretty cute, what happened to her?" Gaara was irritated by Sasuke's comments and refused to let it show.

"Why do you care?"

"Because I helped her escape Orochimaru and Kabuto, if she's still around I'd be interested in seeing her, she's much more tolerable to be around than Karin, Sakura or Ino, being with her would be a nice change." Now Gaara was livid. He wanted to date_ his_ wife? ! If he wasn't more valuable alive he'd kill him now.

"She's married." Gaara said simply turning and walking from the room.

O0o0o0o0

Temari and Nia entered the village at high noon and immediately headed to the Kazekage's mansion to escape the sun's burning heat. Temari made her way to her room and Nia did the same, the brunette jumping in the shower and letting the cold water wash over her over heated body. Ever since that accidental walk in from Gaara the brunette had begun changing in the bathroom, and grabbing her clothes she dressed in a pair of black shorts and a white tank top. She didn't have to start her duties until Monday, and luckily for her it was Friday which gave her the weekend to relax. Nia walked from her room and prepared lunch for her and Temari, there was plenty of fresh food so it was quite easy to find something to make.

Temari exited her room after her own shower to the scent of cooking meat and made her way downstairs, her stomach grumbling hungrily. She was greeted with lemon pepper chicken and a salad on the side. Just seeing it had her mouth watering and immediately the blonde grabbed the plate set at her spot and began eating. Nia watched in amusement slowly eating her meal, and it seemed Temari finally came to her senses for a moment she stopped set her plate down and sat as she too began to eat slowly at the table.

"Ahem…yeah…food's great though Nia! Good as always!" the blonde said with a grin.

"Thanks Temi-Chan."

"So, you and my brother have been married for a little over three months now…you guys have any fun yet?" Nia simply tilted her head in confusion.

"No, we've been too busy to goof off." She said taking another bite of her chicken. Temari blinked.

"No, have you guys…you know…yet?"

"What?" Temari blinked again, how could she not get it?

"Sex." She said simply watching as the brunette choked on her food and began coughing.

"W-WHAT! ?"

"I'll take it as a no then…" Temari said with a laugh. Nia had finally stopped her coughing and cleared her throat.

"Umm…why did you want to know?" Nia asked not taking another bite of food, she didn't want to choke again.

"Well, I don't talk much to people out here, the girls are prudes, and the guys talk about imaginary sexcapades they've been on so I was wondering if I had someone to talk naughty girl talk with, looks like I don't though." Temari said taking a sip of water.

"You've…you actually…?"

"I'm twenty, yes, I've gotten laid." The blonde said simply watching as Nia turned pink. "Why?"

"…What's…what's it like?" Temari smirked as the younger teen's face was now tinged red.

"Well after the first time it's great if you have someone who knows what they're doing." Temari said watching as Nia once again tilted her head.

"What about the first time?"

"To be honest I don't think it's possible to have a good first time. I mean you're nervous, and worried, and new things are happening the whole time, it's totally awkward and nothing flows right then it hurts like crazy if the guy's in a rush…wait why?" Dark green eyes met brown and Temari smirked as she watched her sister-in-law blush scarlet. "You wanna have sex don't you?"

"I-I'm thinking about it…" she said quietly, Temari seemed to be taking too much enjoyment from watching her squirm.

"Well tell me what goes on?" hearing this she simply turned redder.

"Well…kissing and touching…umm certain places…"

"Ok so how do you feel with all of that?" Temari asked wisely knowing that the teen might think she was ready if she really wasn't. She also had to take into account that she could be doing it to make her brother happy, not that she'd ever think poorly of him anymore but men could be a bit pushy when it came to sex.

"It makes my body feel funny, like it wants to explode kinda, and I like it a lot…I feel like I just want more of it." Hearing this Temari smirked.

"Ok, so maybe you're ready, have you talked to him about it?"

"No…" Nia said quietly looking down as now Temari cocked her eyebrow.

"He'll never know what you want if you don't tell him you know."

"I know that…but it scares me, that's a big step to take."

"Yes it is you should be sure that you're both ready before you go that far." Hearing this Nia nodded.

"I'm going to go take a nap Temari."

"Ok, I'll do the dishes since you've cooked." The blonde said collecting the empty plates and dumping them into the sink as the brunette climbed the stairs. Her mind was buzzing with all of this information as she lay down in her bed, quickly sleep over took her.

O0o0o0o0

Gaara arrived home annoyed and with his head filled with unanswered questions mostly about the Uchiha. He walked into the kitchen and found food in the microwave. After a quick meal he made his way to bed his mind racing with thoughts wondering mostly on just what thoughts exactly did the Uchiha have on _his_ Nia? Eventually his thoughts went to the brunette herself, what did _she_ think of Sasuke? He hoped but by some kind of better judgment knew that she hadn't been a Sasuke obsessed child. He knew that she was to arrive any day now in Suna, hell she was probably already here. Either way it was late and if she was here the last thing Gaara wanted to do was disturb her, but still he wanted to see her. Gaara made his way to Nia's room opening the door silently and peering in. Just as he thought he would, he found the auburn haired teen laying peacefully in the bed, the moonlight dancing across her silent figure as she breathed softly. Quietly Gaara made his way over to Nia and after brushing her hair from her face gently kissed her lips, his hand caressing her face as he watched her for a moment, she looked so serene and relaxed for the first time in a very long while. Gaara stepped from her room just as silently as he'd entered. His thoughts continued to plague him about Sasuke as he entered his own room. Gaara was irritated with the Uchiha and with a sigh decided to think more on the subject in the morning. After getting changed from his Kage robes he dressed himself in pajamas and went to bed.

O0o0o0o0

The sun rose brightly waking the teen from her sleep, and with a yawn Nia stretched and looked around in confusion, it seemed her nap turned right into bed time for she had slept the entire night instead of the few hours she'd anticipated. When she made it down stairs Nia found the house to be empty and a note was on the table.

_Nia when you're ready please meet me at my office, we're low on genin and I wanted to know if you'd mind running a few D rank missions for me,_

_Gaara_

Nia wasn't surprised to read this, she usually did a few D rank missions while in Suna, usually it was running paperwork from one place to the other. Dressing and grabbing an orange the brunette hurried to the Kazekage's tower to meet Gaara. The trip to the tower was a short one and when she arrived Gaara was busy behind a stack of papers.

"I sent out more genin teams than I expected, do you mind handling these missions for me?" he asked holding out a slip of paper.

"Not at all love." Nia said giving Gaara a kiss as she left the room.

"**You're being ridiculous, you know that right?"**

'I'm aware, I just want to see what happens is all.'

"**You're being insecure Gaara."**

'Again, I'm aware of this.' Shukaku sighed and shook her head.

"**If Bug finds out about this she'll be pissed that you're already testing her loyalty to you."**

'It's not her I'm testing. I want to see what the Uchiha does when he sees her…'

"**So you're offering her up as bait? Not cool."**

'That is not what I'm doing.'

"**You're dangling her in front of him. Sounds a lot like you've turned Bug into bait to me."**

'It's not the same thing damn it!'

"**Oh please then tell me how it's different, I'm waiting for your wise words of wisdom." **Shukaku said oozing sarcasm, Gaara simply ignored her as he concentrated on making his third eye and focusing on it making it appear right across from Sasuke's cell right out of sight, he could see perfectly now all he had to do was watch and wait.

O0o0o0o0

Nia went down the list getting the first three errands done with ease though they had certainly taken some time. Now she headed towards the jail house to deliver lunch to the people currently in holding, it wasn't tough, it was only sixteen cells. She made her way into the building and after delivering the food to the first twelve cells she went to the lowest level carrying the four trays of food. The first was given to a young man with orange hair who smiled kindly at her, Nia smiled in return, the second was given to a red haired woman who glared at her snatching the tray away. The third was given to another young male with sharp teeth who grinned at her looking her up and down. And after pretending to drop the plate making him jump for it, Nia released it to the man who pouted at her. Turning to the final person she simply stared in shock.

"Well isn't this familiar, though if I recall properly our places were switched." The onyx haired teen said simply.

"Sasuke what are you doing here?" Nia asked handing him the tray and watching as he placed it on the bed.

"I could be asking you the same thing, weren't you a Konoha shinobi the last time we met?"

"I'm the ambassador, just running a few errands for the Kazekage." She said standing in front of the cell as Sasuke walked closer to the bars. Reaching his arm out he ruffled her hair.

"I'm glad to see you got away safely." He said watching the familiar orb of sand just out of his peripheral vision.

"Well thank you for helping me escape, I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't helped me out."

"It's no problem. So how have you been?" Sasuke said simply backing away but keeping the sand orb in his sights.

"Good, I've been very good, thank you for asking."

"So, you're married?" Hearing this Nia blinked and didn't know what to say, how did he even know? "Your ring finger on your left hand." Sasuke said simply as Nia blinked and understood before smiling.

"Yes, I am, and he's wonderful." He reached for his food and seeing this Nia turned and began walking away. The orb of sand disintegrated and seeing this Sasuke smirked walking back over to the cell bars once again. "Hey, come back for a second?" Nia paused and turned seeing Sasuke against the bars as she made her way back over.

"What is it?"

"You have something on you." He said motioning to his own face. Nia wiped hers several times and Sasuke sighed.

"I'll get it, come here." Something in her gut was telling her to do otherwise, and as Nia leaned forward she knew why. He grabbed her quicker than she'd imagined and in a move that stunned her he pressed his lips against hers firmly as he held her body tightly against the bars. For a moment she was far too shocked to move, but when she finally came to her senses Nia pushed him away as hard as she could. Sasuke released his hold on her watching as the brunette hit the ground scrambling away from him.

"W-what the hell was that? !" Nia asked wiping her lips trying to rid herself of the feel of his lips.

"It's just something to remember me by in case you ever want to get to know me better." He said with a smirk as he walked back over to sit on the bed.

"I-I'm married! That will never ever happen! How could you even-" scrambling to her feet Nia sprinted from the room her eyes burning. What would Gaara say when she told him? Would she even tell him? She had to talk to someone about this and as she hurried from the building she almost collided with Kankuro.

"Yo short stuff slow down before you run me over…hey, are you crying?" he asked looking at her in concern.

"No, I'm not…I…I need to go home now, Gaara needs someone to work on these last two errands, where's Temari?"

"I can do these." Kankuro said taking the paper from her trembling hands. "Temari's at her favorite tea place just down the road." Hearing this Nia nodded and after thanking Kankuro, she hurried town to the tea shop. Peeking her head inside Nia found Temari at her usual table drinking her tea serenely. Quickly she sat down and stared at the blonde intently.

"Tems I need to talk to you now!" seeing the look on Nia's face Temari downed her cup of tea and led the brunette back to the Kazekage mansion and into her room where she knew they wouldn't be disturbed.

"What's wrong Nia?"

"I-I think I cheated on Gaara!"

"What the hell? ! How did this happen and what do you mean you think you did? You either did or you didn't. What happened?"

"Someone kissed me."

"Ok, the short and sweet version fine. What led up to it? Where were you when it happened?"

"I was doing a few missions for Gaara and I had to deliver food to the people in the holding cells. One of the guys grabbed me through the bars and kissed me. I was so shocked I just froze up but once I finally registered what was happening I pushed myself away from him and freaked out."

"Well it's only cheating if you instigate it or enjoy it. Did you?"

"NO! I didn't, everything about that just felt so wrong and dirty." Nia said burying her face in her hands.

"Well you certainly did not cheat on him, but you do need to tell Gaara what happened and who did it so he can do something about it."

"But what if he's mad at me?" Nia sniffed.

"He'll be upset, but not at you." Temari said softly rubbing the girl's head before pulling her into a hug. "Now go wait in his room, he should be back soon anyways for his lunch break, I'll talk to him before then send him to talk to you ok?" Nia simply nodded wiping her eyes dry before walking from the blonde's room. She just couldn't believe this happened. Never did she ever believe Sasuke would do that to her, he surely felt nothing more for her than pity right? He had to have held nothing more than pity for the filthy, injured, girl who was trapped like a lab rat in Orochimaru's lair, surely nothing more…right? The thought of him seeing her in any other light sickened her. All it was, was, a kiss and never had she felt so dirty, not even when she'd fallen into a mud pit on her mission in wave country. She had made it to Gaara's room and sat on the bed waiting for him to arrive, she just hoped Temari could calm him down after this.

Gaara arrived after she'd successfully calmed down and the moment the brunette's eyes met Gaara's all that calm flew out the window. As she hurriedly tried explaining what happened through her tears. Gaara stared in shock, as he listened to Nia speak, all he really understood was 'Food', 'Sasuke', 'kiss', 'sorry', 'I love you', 'afraid', 'angry', 'grabbed', 'ran', and 'Temari'.

"Nia, calm down!" Gaara said slowly putting his hands on her shoulders and bringing her towards the edge of the bet sitting her down. "Take a breath and calmly tell me what happened, I missed almost all of it." He said watching as she took in a shuddering breath.

"I brought the food to the holding cell."

"Ok." He said quickly, if one sentence at a time was all she could manage he'd work with that.

"Talked to Sasuke and went to leave." Gaara nodded having seen that part through his third eye. "He called me back." This part he'd missed, now he was rapt with attention.

"What happened?"

"He grabbed me through the bars."

"And then?"

"He kissed me and I ran away." Oh he was gonna kill him…

"Then?"

"Found Temari and came home. I'm sorry, I'm sorry it happened, I never wanted it to happen, I never liked him like that, I barely like him at all, I'm just grateful he helped me escape, nothing more I promise, I promise, I'm sorry." Nia said burying her face in her hands, slowly Gaara pulled them from her face taking her hands with his own.

"It's ok, it's not your fault, I'm not mad at you." He said softly wiping away the tears as he kissed her. Nia closed her eyes feeling his lips against hers, it felt so right. Gasping she kissed him back hard, the brunette wanted to prove that she wanted him and only him, no one else, never ever anyone else as she pulled him on top of her. She would give him the last part of her, the one thing he had yet to be given, if nothing else surely this would prove her love for him. Quickly Nia began fumbling with the buckles of his clothing as she continued to kiss him trying to undress him as fast as she could, she wanted to show him now how much she loved him and Gaara could sense the desperation in her actions.

"Nia stop it." He said softly, the brunette shook her head continuing her work. "Nia." Gaara said a little more firmly, he was starting to grow frustrated. Finally tired of being ignored he grabbed her wrists and pinned them by her head. "I said to stop. We're not doing this, not like this." He said in a gentle yet firm voice.

"Why won't you let me show you how much I love you? I want to show you that you have all of me, all the time, any time you want, Gaara please let me show you." She said in a desperate and watery voice tugging at her arms which were held firmly in place and unable to move.

"No. I already know how much you love me, I don't need to see it because I can feel it. I know you don't love Sasuke. I know you love me and only me, why else would you have married me if you didn't? Trust me with that. Trust me with that knowledge and know you don't ever have to prove it in ways like this. You simply being here Nia, it's enough. It's always been enough." He said softly still pinning her to the bed, now resting his forehead against hers.

They stayed like this for some time and after a while Gaara realized two things, one was that the moon had risen so at some point they had fallen asleep, and the other was that he could feel her pulse, and felt as her heart raced as she too woke up. This confused him, they had been calm now for quite some time, hours if the state of day said anything, that and and she'd barely put up a struggle to begin with for her heart to be beating like that, and even if she had, she would have been completely calm long before now anyways. She was not afraid of him, for if she were he'd have seen it in her eyes. He gripped her wrists a bit tighter and felt her heart beat faster than before. He decided to experiment, loosening his grip only slightly he began kissing her neck and felt her heartbeat once again quicken in excitement, in response to this he gripped her wrists tightly biting her neck and shoulder a bit harder than usual and felt as her heartbeat skyrocketed as she gasped softly. Then he understood, she liked this, she liked him pinning her down like this. This tidbit of information intrigued him and he saved it away for later. During their make out sessions he'd always wanted to be just a bit rougher but worried that it would frighten her if he did so. Gaara decided to forget about Sasuke for the time being, he was going to show Nia that he loved her, and that he knew she loved him, and that everything was going to be quite alright now.

Turning Gaara lay on his back pulling the brunette close to him as he stretched out on the bed feeling Nia nuzzle into his neck. Her arm resting on his chest, she clenched onto his shirt snuggling as close to Gaara as she could and in response the red head wrapped his arm around her holding Nia tightly against him, resting his head on hers. It wasn't long until once again she'd fallen asleep on him, not that Gaara minded, there was always something comforting about the brunette sleeping so serenely against him.

"**You know you could have gotten a head start on giving me those grandkids."** Shukaku said nudging into Gaara's thoughts as she did on a daily basis.

'No, not like that…I would and will never let it happen like that. When that time comes I want it to be because we both want it, not because one of us is trying to prove that we love the other. I know she loves me and what she was doing seemed to be not out of love but desperation to prove her love because she was scared.'

"**You know you've always been exceptionally skilled at reading people, you're gifted in that category."**

'I'm aware, I've kind of had to be good at that during my life.'

"**I know…it hasn't been easy, I'm well aware and I've been a blessing and a curse, more of a curse than a help in the beginning."**

'Yes, you indeed were. But you're very helpful now, I do need someone to convey my thoughts about confounding situations to and your advice as extremely perverted as it can be is usually very good.'

"**I'm blushing, really."** The sand demon said rolling her eyes and shaking her head. **"I've been around for centuries of course my advice is good."**

'So what should I do?'

"**About bug?"**

'Yes.'

"**Do exactly what you're doing. Show her intimacy."**

'And that's it?'

"**For the moment it's what you both need." ** Gaara thought about it and again Shukaku was right, he wanted nothing more in this moment than to just hold Nia, and it seemed to be just what she needed as well…

** My lack of updates has simply been because of my lack of internet, I have four more chapters of this story already done and i'll uptate them every sunday to make you all wait and stuff cuz im evil like that. Sorry for the wait and I hope the chapter makes up for it, if not the next few certainly will.**


	32. All those dirty fantasies from you!

A Tough Life

Chapter 31

All those dirty little fantasies from you?

Surprised is an understatement.

**Because this IS a T rated story and people have been PMing me for lemons and stuff I've decided to make things happen in this chapter. HOWEVER I will be posting the not so descriptive but implied moment in this chapter. If you want the more explicit chapter PM me and I'll send you the chapter.**

Gaara had really honestly thought about killing Uchiha Sasuke, really he did. Just the thought of the black haired teen made his blood boil so he did the normal thing to do. He sent him to Konoha and brooded for hours about how he should have sent him to the hidden cloud village. The other two, the water man Suigetsu and the banshee known as Karin he sent to their home villages, and Jugo, who apparently had nowhere to go went to Konoha with Sasuke. The only thing stopping the onyx haired teen from being executed was the fact that he'd sent Tsunade that message when he helped save Nia those years ago. He was however charged with assaulting the Konoha ambassador, Gaara had pressed for that and had gotten it, it was his small victory.

Now in the late evening he sat at his desk silently thinking as he gazed at the village in which he led. Sasuke by now had made it to Konoha, he'd gotten confirmation on that yesterday. That had all been fine and well, what he was really thinking about was that little surprise he'd found about his wife the other day by grabbing her wrists. He was ashamed to admit it but Gaara had experimented with the idea of her actually liking that kind of treatment, and by experimenting he had pushed the brunette up against the wall pinning her wrists and kissing her long and good before heading off to work this morning and last night too. Needless to say both times he'd left Nia with weak knees and a smile spreading across her pink tinged face as her fingers touched her lips. He'd done this on more than one occasion until his suspicions were confirmed, yes she liked it. The thought simply surprised him, she was usually so soft and quiet…

O0o0o0

"So what's the problem little sis?" Temari asked as they sat in the blonde's room sipping tea. Nia had asked to speak with her privately so here they were.

"Gaara just mauls me out of nowhere and I….I like it." The brunette said her face beaming red.

"What? I'm confused what?" Temari blinked.

"I feel funny and weird but I like it…"

"You like what?" Temari had a feeling she'd missed something here.

"I like it when he…he pins me down." At this Temari bust out laughing.

"Oh my gosh you're into kinky stuff! I never expected that from you of all people." Temari said with a laugh wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I really am sheltered." The brunette mumbled. "So what kind of things does being 'kinky' entail?" Nia asked not entirely sure she wanted to know, she knew the basics, wasn't that enough?

"Oh, you know it ranges from how kinky you wanna go, there's small stuff like spanking, and talking dirty, and then stuff much higher on the chart like domination and submissive relationships where one person completely rules the sexual relationship. Sometimes its men dominating women sometimes it's women dominating men, or if you're one of those people who play for the same team if…you get what I'm saying. But it all depends on the person and how they feel about it, but that's totally off the charts kinky with like whips, paddles, rope, handcuffs-

"Handcuffs? Like what the Anbu use on civilians?" Nia asked intrigued yet confused.

"Yup, like bondage." Temari said simply but seeing the look on the brunettes face she knew there'd be another question.

"Bondage?"

"You really are sheltered." The blonde said shaking her head at Nia's innocent mind. "People into bondage like it when their lovers tie them up and…holy crap you're taking mental notes aren't you? !"

"No! No I'm not this just seems all kind of interesting is all…" Nia said with a bright red face.

"There's nothing wrong with what your sexual preferences are, some people like plain old sex others like to spice it up a bit, there's nothing wrong with that. It's like ice cream, there's nothing wrong with vanilla, but sometimes people like to add other toppings and sometimes toppings make it taste way better or sometimes it just fucks your ice cream up. So say you like it when the guy you're with talks dirty, that would be like adding sprinkles to your ice cream if you like that kind of thing. But if you don't it's like adding salt and pepper to the ice cream, it just makes it taste wrong because it's not your thing." Temari said smartly. Nia nodded in understanding but then scowled.

"But we've never even had sex! Shouldn't I want normal things while I'm still a virgin and all? Like plain old normal sex that doesn't involve –eep- Quickly Nia covered her mouth wide eyed while Temari stared eagerly with interest.

"That doesn't involve what?" the blonde was smirking as Nia shook her head. No way in hell was she going to reveal her dirty little daydreams.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" The brunette said quickly hurrying from the room leaving the blonde behind her who sighed sitting at her table, she'd get it out of Nia eventually.

O0o0o0

Nia hurried to her room quickly shutting the door behind her. 'I can't believe I almost told Temari _that!' _

"What's wrong with me?" With a sigh Nia lay across her bed, all of this was confusing her, the brunette had no idea how she could find any of her thoughts and daydreams attractive when none of them seemed normal, she just honestly felt so perverse, especially the way Temari acted, to Nia that was not a good sign. Deciding to grab something to drink the brunette made her way to the kitchen and on the way passed Gaara who was walking in the other direction, on his way by he grabbed Nia and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips before continuing on his way. To be honest the brunette kind of felt cheated, compared to all the others she'd just received, this one just felt so…lacking. Even thinking back on the others just took her breath away, and the brunette let her mind wander as she walked to the kitchen grabbing a glass of ice water. Nia began heading back to her room with her water when she decided to go to Gaara's office instead and get some of her ambassadorial paperwork, she might as well get some paper work done ahead instead of having to rush getting it done by the end of the week.

Knocking on the door Nia received no answer and peeking her head into the room she found it to be empty. Walking over to Gaara's desk she flipped through several folders taking the time to read the material until she found the papers she needed, and dug around finding the rest of her paperwork and tucking them into her free hand Nia walked from the office closing the door behind her.

The brunette made her way down the hall taking a sip of water when she slammed to a stop dropping her papers in the process to avoid the door that suddenly opened ahead of her. Swearing under her breath Nia placed the glass on the ground and began scooping up the many scattered pages blinking when she noticed several held out to her. Nia looked up and immediately her cheeks began burning, Gaara was crouched in front of her holding out the pages shirtless and towel drying his wet hair. Nia blinked and swallowed thickly.

"Thank you." She said breathlessly. 'He looks…so…hot…' Nia couldn't help but stare, the muscles in his arms and chest were defined, much more so than before, that was proof enough that the extra tai jutsu training he'd been doing was definitely working. She'd honestly wanted to drool.

"Hey are you ok?" Gaara asked standing and pulling the smaller brunette to her feet. Nia could only nod, Gaara didn't look convinced. "If you need anything I'll be in my room for the night alright?" Again Nia nodded. As he walked towards his room Gaara glanced back to see Nia staring as he went. Leaning against the wall and watching him walk away Nia slid down the wall until she was sitting against it, and reaching for her glass of water she swiftly downed it before hurrying back to her feet and heading to her room. Oh the things that had gone through her mind.

O0o0o0

"I think something's wrong with Nia Tems." Gaara said sitting across from his sister in the blonde's room.

"What makes you think that? And you'd better drink that tea, it's the only edible thing I can make so drink up." The blonde said with a glare watching as Gaara grabbed the cup and took a sip, he looked surprised and the blonde grinned, yes, tea she could make…

"She's just been acting oddly lately is all. Like she stares off and day dreams, and even a little bit ago when I helped her pick up the papers she dropped when I got out of the shower she barely spoke to me, just nodded and stared, that and her face kept getting redder, I would have sworn she was angry but she wasn't, it was like a mixture of embarrassment and…I don't know, just something else." Gaara said taking another sip of his sister's tea, he had to give her credit, it was good. Temari seemed to be laughing but answered him none the less.

"Wow, and to think we were having a similar conversation earlier." The blonde said to herself. "Gaara, I think Nia's realizing just how attracted to you she is, we both know that there's different kinds of attractions, and we know that she's got a strong emotional attraction towards you, but I think she's now realizing that she's physically attracted to you and more so than she thought. And it sounds like she was blushing little bro." Temari said expertly. Hearing this Gaara glared.

"What do you know?" Temari raised a brow.

"If she wants to tell you she will, it's not my place Gaara." Hearing this he dropped the glare and pouted, he knew his sister had a fairly good point. "But if it makes you feel any better when she's off in space she's having naughty day dreams." The blonde said pushing her brother from the room. "That's all you're getting from me, bye!" With that she quickly shut the door leaving Gaara standing in the hall quite stunned. Nia having any kind of naughty thoughts was simply unimaginable…but then again that whole pinning her down thing was unexpected as well…Walking to his room Gaara began thinking, wondering just what was going on in the mind of his wife.

O0o0o0

Nia honestly wondered if she could do it…really in her thoughts she was so much more assertive than she was in real life…could she actually make that happen?

'_Why not Gaara's done it to me all week.' _Her inner thoughts piped up.

'But still I just don't think I can…'

'_You never know until you try, and if you don't try it you never know if it'll be a possibility so just go do it and shock the hell outta him! Especially after that half assed kiss back in the hall what was up with that?'_

'But it was sweet!' Nia thought now quite aware she was fighting with her subconscious.

'_But was it what I wanted? Was I really satisfied with __**that**__?'_

'Not really…'

'_Go surprise him! Right NOW!' _Standing the brunette hurried from the room wondering if this was the best idea in the world but then again if she never tried it she'd never know…besides she had to bring her empty cup to the kitchen anyways. Walking down the hallways much to her dismay she ran into no one, and after depositing her cup into the sink she walked back towards her room, her once built up courage slowly dwindling away, then as she rounded the corner Nia felt her adrenaline race, there he was walking down the hall. As he neared her Nia's mind was screaming at her.

'_Do it do it do it do it do it!' _As usual Gaara swept her into his arms and after a kiss he held her tightly for a moment before releasing the brunette. He looked like he wanted to say something or was waiting for her to, but after a moment he released her headed towards his room.

'_What the heck was that you damned pansy! He was right there! Why couldn't you do it? !'_ Nia was angry with herself, once again she failed in her self-appointed mission. This time she walked angrily down the hall only to stop and look behind her watching as the light from Gaara's room which had lit up the hall faded as he shut the door. Suddenly in a flash of anger the brunette turned on her heel heading back towards the door, and not even bothering to knock pushed it open.

O0o0o0

He had swept Nia into his arms like he usually did but this time like the last he kissed her softly on the lips and held her tightly, Nia looked as though she wanted to say something or do something so he paused waiting for her, however the brunette said and did nothing…maybe it was just his imagination…so releasing her he paused for a moment before heading to his room. The door hadn't been shut for more than a few seconds when it quickly opened. Nia walked over with an air of determination around her and much to Gaara's surprise she grabbed him by the back of his neck and the collar of his shirt pulling him down to meet her lips in a fierce kiss that totally blew his mind, her hand ran through his fiery locks while the other released the t shirt he was wearing and was now rubbing along his torso. Much to Nia's delight Gaara responded rather quickly pulling her flush against him while he kissed back with just as much ferocity and desire. Finally the need for air came and the two parted lips but stayed locked in each-others embrace.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." Nia said in between the short amount of time it took for them to catch their breath before continuing where they had left off, and eventually Nia pushed Gaara towards the bed where the two collapsed, neither parting from the other and eventually it became a battle of dominance as they rolled on the bed until finally Gaara had pinned the brunette to the bed. Nia panted softly as he kissed his way down her neck, his teeth grazing the sensitive flesh giving her goose bumps. It was then she realized why it was she liked being held down by him, he was strong, stronger than she could ever hope to be and then some and she was completely at his mercy, but that wasn't all of it, Nia knew that much, it was the fact that she was completely vulnerable to him, and the fact that she knew he would never ever hurt her. Knowing that such a powerful force one with such restraint was no longer holding back was more of a turn on than anything she could ever imagine.

Nia could feel his hands wandering her body but was slightly confused as to how she was still pinned until she realized he was holding her down with his sand, which kept her hands pinned above her head. Gaara lifted the hem of Nia's when she spoke surprising him yet again.

"Just rip it off." She said panting slightly and watching as his eyes widened just a bit.

"What?"

"Rip. It. Off." Gaara blinked before tearing the tank top in half revealing the brunette's lavender bra and silky body, and the adrenaline surge from that simple act had been immense and grabbing the brunette he kissed her hard once again. Resting his head against her chest Gaara listened to the thrum of Nia's heart as his hand wandered along the length of her leg before returning to her thigh which he grabbed pulling it upright and making her straddle him as the red head pressed himself firmly against the brunette. He could hear Nia's heart racing in her chest, and releasing her from the sand binds he once again grabbed her wrists loving the feel as her heartbeat raced under his fingertips.

"I want you, I want you right now so badly." Gaara growled through clenched teeth.

"Take me then, I want this with you, just be gentle with me." Nia whispered into his ear, aftere those spoken words they were lost to each other.

o0o0o0

Panting heavily Nia tried catching her breath feeling as Gaara too panted in exhaustion.

"That was…wow. Uh huh I think…I think wow covers it." Nia said slightly breathless with a grin as she looked over at Gaara who nodded his approval.

"Yes, wow definitely covers it…and it'll never hurt you again?" he asked wanting to be sure.

"Never." Nia whispered feeling dazed and groggy as she cuddled up to Gaara for warmth as he pulled the blanket over them and wrapping his arms around her sweat dampened body holding her tightly against him while he gently brushed her hair from her forehead and tucking it behind her ear.

"Go to sleep, your exhausted." Gaara said softly watching her heavy eyelids droop slowly.

"I don't want to. I want to stay awake with you." She said fighting a losing battle as she blinked slowly. Reaching over Gaara flicked the switch on the lamp sending his room into darkness.

"There, now we'll both go to sleep, sound fair?"

"Mhmm."

"Good." He said kissing the top of her head and feeling as she nuzzled her head under his chin. Gaara paused a moment to just stare at the brunette who began blushing growing self-conscious.

"What is it?"

"You." He said softly as he kissed the brunette again and resting his head in the crook of her neck.

"What about me?" Nia asked softly tilting the red heads head from her neck to look him in the eyes.

"You're mine, you're absolutely beautiful and of all the people in this world for some unfathomable reason you love me. For some reason you gave me your heart, and I'm still in awe of that." Nia stared unblinking for a moment before smiling and pulling Gaara close as she held him tightly despite her sleepy daze, he was still always quiet and never spoke much so hearing these words made her heart swell with happiness.

"Gaara you had my heart from the beginning, I never had to give it to you because it was destined to be yours. I love you, I will always love you." Nia said kissing the redhead. "Never question it, my heart is, has, and always will be yours."

"I love you Nia."

"I love you too Gaara."

"Good night."

"Night love." Nia murmured, and in moments she was asleep, Gaara following quickly after.

**Sorry it's not sunday but oh well things happen, I've been working like crazy! I hope you guys enjoy the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it =) oh and brooding Gaara in the beginning made me laugh. Laters!**


	33. surprising the Sabaku siblings

A Tough Life

Chapter 32

Shocking the Sabaku siblings

"I'm sure he'll be here shortly." Temari said with a weak smile while looking around at all the seething council members and trying to keep her head. Her brother may be the Kazekage, and he may be the container of the one tails Ichibi Shukaku, but he better bet his ass he's _so_ gonna get it when he finally gets here. Temari was pissed, she'd been trying to keep the council members calm for the last two hours, and hearing the knob on the door turn Temari faced the door expecting her youngest brother. The doors open and Temari looks over in relief only for her shoulders to sag, it's just Kankuro.

"Please excuse me while we go see what's taking Gaara." Temari said quickly dragging her brother from the room he'd just entered.

"What's up Tem I thought the meeting would be in full swing by now."

"We can't have a meeting without Gaara and he hasn't shown up yet." Temari said angrily.

"Have you checked the house?"

"No! Gaara never sleeps in!" Temari said in annoyance. "I can't believe it! Of all days how in the hell could Gaara sleep in? !"

"Well he probably did today, shit happens." Kankuro said with a shrug leading the blonde towards the Kazekage's mansion and walking through the doors. Together they made their way towards Gaara's room and just before Kankuro can barge the door open like he usually does Temari cut him off in an attempt to keep the door on the hinges, opening it the blonde peered in and gaped at the sight. A barely covered female body is the first thing she notices and even so she had to take a second glance. The blanket barely covered the brunette revealing a large majority of her back and legs but luckily covering her backside. It took the blonde a moment to notice the clothes on the floor and once the synapses flashed in her head she began blushing like a schoolgirl.

"Oh, Kami."

"What?"

"Look." Temari said in a hushed whisper. Stepping aside so her brother could look in, he'd never believe it unless he saw it for himself.

"What am I looking at?"

"Bed and floor." After looking in the room and letting his eyes adjust Kankuro stared in shock, clothes littered the floor, and not just guys clothes either.

"Holy crap…"

"I know!" Temari said in a hushed whisper.

"When was he gonna tell us he was a cross dresser? !" Kankuro asked in a hushed whisper. Temari sighed and punched her brother in the head.

"Look at the bed you idiot, Gaara's not a cross dresser!" Kankuro grumbled at his sister's latest assault and turned his eyes towards the bed and felt his jaw drop. A very familiar barely covered brunette lay on the bed sleeping soundly with an equally familiar redhead holding her tightly in his arms as he too slept.

"Holy hell, that's Nia!"

"You think dumb ass, who else would it be?" Temari growled, though in the back of her mind she was wondering who seduced who here… 'Well they are married…'

"Dude…our sister-in-law's hot."

"Gaara will kill you so hard that you will die to death if he ever hears you say that." Temari growled yanking her brother away from the sight by his ear.

"Well what the hell do we do?"

"I have no idea."

"Should we…let them sleep?"

"Yeah, we'll cancel his appointments for the day and tell the council to piss off. That's your job for arriving late." Temari snapped pulling Gaara's door shut so as not to wake the sleeping couple as they went their separate ways.

"What the hell do I tell them?"

"Just….just say he's sick, yeah that'll work, just say he's sick." The blonde said walking down the hall leaving her brother shaking his head as he walked towards the council room once again.

O0o0o0

He was warm, so warm, Gaara was honestly curious about why he was so warm, then the memories of the previous night crashed over him like a tidal wave as his eyes quickly opened to confirm his memories. There Nia was lying peacefully against him looking content as she cuddled closer to him seeking warmth. Her cocoa colored hair was covering her face, and slowly moving his hand Gaara brushed the stray strands from her face watching as Nia nuzzled into his open palm, her lips parting as she sighed softly in her sleep. Gaara felt as if he could simply watch her sleep forever, and turning over on his side to face Nia he once again let his arm rest on the sleeping brunette's waist. Closing his eyes once again Gaara began drifting towards sleep, but blinked his eyes open when he heard Nia's quiet voice.

"I promise…I'll never leave you…" Gaara's eyes widened hearing this, and he felt his heart race. It was as if she had a mental connection to his deepest unspoken fears and was sure to put them to rest, even in her sleep, what he heard next was an even bigger shock.

"Please…don't go…please…_Gaara please_…" she sounded so desperate and hurt that he couldn't take it. Just as he was about to wake the brunette Gaara watched as her eyes opened in a flash. Nia looked around in a sleepy daze blinking blearily before her chocolate colored eyes met concerned sea green orbs. "Hey you, good morning." he said softly registering the relief in Nia's eyes.

"Good morning." She said softly with a shy smile that Gaara couldn't help but reciprocate.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Wonderfully." Nia said softly, Gaara was debating whether he should tell her about her sleep talking and decided against it. Reaching out he caressed her face pulling Nia into a kiss.

"I'm glad to hear that." Nia smiled into the kiss and once they broke apart she sat up with a yawn only to yelp in embarrassment as she quickly gathered the sheets to cover her nakedness blushing a deep red. "Don't be ashamed of yourself, you're beautiful." Gaara said taking her hand as he gave her his small smile.

"I love you." Nia said with a grateful smile as she climbed on top of the red head hugging him.

"And I love you, I always will." He said softly feeling as the brunette hugged him tighter.

"What time is it?" Nia asked looking around his room only to gasp loudly when she spotted the clock.

"What's wrong? !" Gaara asked startled by her gasp.

"It's 1 o'clock!" Nia yelped preparing to jump from the bed with every intention of getting dressed and running to work, but before she could touch her feet to the floor Gaara grabbed her around the waist and pulled Nia back into the bed successfully pinning her beneath him. "Gaara!" She protested weakly as he began kissing her neck. "Gaara what are you doing?" Nia asked in amusement prying the red head from her neck and giving him another kiss.

"The entire day is almost gone anyways, we might as well spend it in bed." Gaara said kissing her once again. Nia turned her head and looked Gaara in the eye with a small grin.

"Just one night and look what's become of you…There's a council meeting today." Hearing these words Gaara's eyes widened in panic as he leapt from the bed much to Nia's amusement quickly grabbing clothes from his closet and drawers dressing at a rapid pace as he hurriedly dressed.

"I love you, I need to go!" Gaara said quickly pulling his clothes quickly on only to swear profusely as he stumbled almost hitting the ground. "I'll see you tonight I promise." Gaara said full dressed hurrying over to kiss the brunette deeply before rushing from the room. Nia shook her head with a blush and couldn't help but laugh just a bit. With the blanket wrapped around her Nia stood and walked over to Gaara's door locking it so she could find her discarded clothes without fear of someone suddenly barging in. She'd found the panties, her bra and shorts and blushed profusely when she found her shredded tank top. Shrugging the brunette poked through Gaara's dresser and found a black t-shirt before quickly getting dressed and after making sure the hall was clear sneaking from Gaara's room.

"What are you being so sneaky about? You and Gaara are married, sleeping with your husband's no crime." Came the voice of a blonde kunoichi right behind the brunette who yelped and whirled around with a beet red face.

"T-T-Temari! I wasn't- we didn't-!"

"Riiiiight…oh young one, you guys really should have locked the door." Temari watched as Nia's face went from beet red to pale white to beet red once again.

"What did you see exactly?"

"You sleeping totally naked in your husband's bed." Temari said with a smirk, oh how she loved teasing Nia, it was beyond fun.

"Yes…my husband and _your brother._" Temari blinked and suddenly made a face.

"Holy crap you slept with my brother! EWWWW!" Nia blinked, Temari had been picking on her for weeks now, and now that they had finally had sex now she was grossed out by it? The hell? The reaction alone had Nia laughing so hard that the little brunette leaned against the wall drying the tears from her eyes as she tried stemming her fit of giggles.

"What in the world are you laughing at? !"

"Y-Y-YOU!" Nia howled pushing herself off the wall. "I gotta go to work Tems, I'll see you in a few hours." The brunette said continuing to giggle as she walked down the hall leaving Temari hopelessly confused watching her sister-in-law walk away.

O0o0o0

Well he had certainly had it from the council members and much to his annoyance they scheduled the next meeting for tomorrow, early in the morning. Gaara sat in his office reading through papers and signing ones that needed his signature at his leisure, his thoughts drifting to the previous night. It was just so unexpected, for some reason Nia was never without the ability to surprise him. Oh the joy she brought into his life, he loved her and knew without a doubt that she loved him. Closing his eyes the red head allowed himself to drift into his thoughts. He smiled softly thinking of the brunette and absent mindedly wondered where she was right now, already missing her. Nia was either at the hospital or the green house. Pulling himself from his daydreams Gaara began focusing on the large pile of papers, the sooner he was finished the sooner he could go and visit his wife.

O0o0o0

"Kitamura-sensei, I need help please." A young blonde intern said watching Nia nervously as she finished up with her patient, it was late in the evening and Nia was looking forward to the end of her shift.

"It's Nia, please Amaya-san." Nia said nodding at the younger woman. Once she finished putting in the IV, Nia smiled at her patient and left the room. "What is it you need help with?" she asked sweetly, the majority of the new interns were starting this week and Nia was striving to be as helpful as she could to them.

"My patient is out of control, I asked Chiame-sensei for help but she said I had to learn to deal with difficult patients myself but I really need a hand." The blonde said pleadingly. Nia nodded.

"I'd be glad to help, though you do need to learn how to handle difficult patients, what exactly did you mean by out of control? People's versions are always quite different." Hearing this, the blonde blanched. "Nia-sensei I rarely exaggerate. Honestly, he was giving me a difficult time, he's a psych ward patient." Nia nodded preparing for the worst hoping for the best and wanting to expect nothing but unable to do so. They walked the distance to Amaya's room and half way there Nia could hear screaming and crashing and after sharing a glance with her coworker they both hurried in to the room in an attempt to subdue the patient. Nia stared in shock, Amaya was right he was completely out of control. From what she could tell he was either a shinobi or a former shinobi, it was plain to see in his demeanor especially with the simple ease he used to escape the nurses grasp. Apparently his destruction of the examination room had drawn several other nearby nurses for somehow the patient had gotten a hold of a scalpel.

"This is ridiculous! Who left him alone in here?" one of the nurses snapped pulling the door shut tightly to keep the man contained only to fall to the floor as the door slammed open knocking her to the ground as the man burst from the room tackling the nearest nurse to the ground which happened to be the new intern. The scalpel pierced her arm as the blonde screamed, rearing his arm back to strike once again Nia delivered a swift kick knocking him off the blonde, though his grip on his weapon remained tight.

"Lock down this area, get everyone out, I'll keep him busy." Nia said firmly keeping her eyes on the crazed male who was blatantly staring her down. "Get Amaya to the emergency room and lock down this section securely before going for help." The four women nodded, one holding the bleeding blonde up as they hurried from the sector locking rooms and the sector of the hospital as they left Nia alone with the crazed patient.

O0o0o0

He was looking forward to his visit, it was late in the evening and after visiting the greenhouses and finding his wife to be absent from there Gaara made his way to the hospital only to find it in a frenzy when he arrived.

"Kazekage-sama! Thank goodness! There's a patient, he's attacked one of the nurses with a scalpel and our sectors lead medic is alone with him! It's the ambassador!" hearing this Chilled Gaara's blood.

"What floor?"

"The third sir!" The frantic nurse said hurrying down the hall leading the Kazekage to the stairs. Quickly ascending the stairs Gaara made to open the door only to find them locked. Seeing his angry look the nurse blanched.

"Nia-Sama instructed us to lock down the sector sir, we were only following orders." She said fumbling with the keys, her hands shaking as she picked through them. A drawn out scream was heard through the dead bolted door and the nurse watched as her Kage vanished in a swirl of sand. He didn't have time to deal with a stuttering fumbling nurse, and made his way down the winding hall way of the third floor sector searching for his wife, and hearing her scream once again he hurried towards the sound.

O0o0o0

"Pretty skin, such pretty skin with pretty red lines on the pretty skin." The man mumbled in a disturbed voice. He was strong, far more stronger than she'd expected and at the moment she was pinned by her neck against the ground squirming to get away as once again the blade sliced into her skin.

"So pretty, red lines, so many pretty red lines, short red lines." He said leaving a small slice on her skin as the brunette gritted her teeth in pain. "Loooong red line." Once again Nia cried out in pain, screaming loudly when the scalpel went deeper into her skin. "Long runny red lines, such a pretty color, color everywhere." The man began laughing, but soon his laughter was cut short. Suddenly she was no longer trapped by the heavy weight upon her and Nia gasped in pain as she made to sit up right, her hands going to the sliced and bleeding skin on her stomach to assess the damage. She didn't know or care what had knocked her free but her immediate response was to heal herself as fast as she could. Before that could even be done Nia was quickly grabbed and watched as the hall vanished in a swirl of sand as they appeared in the lower level of the hospital as relief radiated through her. She was placed on a gurney the second they arrived on a clear floor, and immediately Nia smiled up at Gaara.

"Are you ok?" he asked softly looking around, and finding a nurse's cart drew it towards him poking through the materials as Nia slowly tried to sit up right only to gasp and lay back down.

"I've been better, that one." She said pointing to a jar that Gaara's hand hovered over. After an encouraging nod from the brunette Gaara opened the lid, but as he made to remove some of the disinfectant Nia stopped him. "Gloves first before you use it, and those too." She said pointing to the cotton balls. Nodding Gaara donned rubber gloves and through Nia's instruction disinfected her wounds, carefully cleaning and applying antibacterial cream to them. Once he was finished Nia began healing the slices on her stomach until finally her wounds were no longer existent. Slowly the brunette sat up and feeling very minimal pain she sighed in relief hopping down from the wheeled bed only for her legs to give out on her. Gaara caught Nia quickly holding her tightly against him as he lifted her, scooping under her legs and once again placing her back on the gurney.

"Are you all right?" Gaara asked softly as Nia's head rested on his chest savoring the feel of his arms as he had yet to release her.

"Chakra exhaustion. I've been working all day, it's been really busy since I arrived, I fought that guy and have healed a few dozen people including myself, I've taught classes and showed interns how to work in surgery. I'd say this is a clear case of chakra and physical exhaustion." Nia said wrapping her arms around the red headed kage who held her tightly.

"Busy day." Gaara said simply as Nia nodded.

"I'd like to go home please." Gaara simply nodded and scooped her into his arms as he made his way down stairs. As they arrived onto the first floor the crowd turned to face them and hurried over, several shinobi as well.

"I would like the shinobi who are the security detail to go to the third floor, the man's incapacitated so now would be the time to restrain him and bring him to where he need be. Once he is removed from the building and brought to where he belongs all who were originally on the third floor can go back to their jobs." Gaara said walking from the hospital still carrying Nia in his arms, they walked out of the building and in moments due to the aid of his sand arrived at the Kazekage mansion.

Walking into his room Gaara placed Nia on the bed allowing her to sit up right as she blinked blearily, he had seen her chakra depleted before, and even then she was in a similar state. Making his way over to his dresser, Gaara pulled a t-shirt from the drawer before closing it, and opening another he pulled out a soldier pill and walked over to the brunette who immediately leaned on him as he neared her.

"Here, eat this, it'll help." Nia nodded recognizing the pill as she chewed and swallowed it. "Arms up." Gaara said softly pulling off her bloody shirt and replacing it with one of his own which was too large for her. Kneeling down he pulled her sandals from her feet and helping Nia stand Gaara watched as she kicked her pants off before once again sitting on the bed after he pulled back the sheet. Gaara's hand cupped her cheek as Nia looked up sleepily at him. With a soft smile reserved just for the brunette before him Gaara gave her a gentle kiss.

"Go to bed now." He said softly watching as she lay down.

"Aren't you going to bed too?" Nia murmured watching as he shook his head.

"In a little bit but not right now, I have to finish some stuff up, ok?"

"Ok." The brunette said with a yawn as she snuggled into the pillow and sighed contentedly. Nia watched as Gaara walked from the room and closed her eyes letting exhaustion induced sleep over take her.

O0o0o0

He had finished up the few papers that had slipped onto his desk in his absence and once finished Gaara returned home entering the house silently as he made his way into his room. Undressing and pulling on a pair of pajama pants Gaara stood for a moment and watched the brunette sleep, she looked so serene. Climbing into the bed he lay down beside the slumbering beauty and knew that no matter what happened or where life ever took him, this was where he wanted to be, beside her, happy with her and in love with her, his best friend and wife. Feeling the warmth Nia turned in her sleep and snuggled up to the thinking red head who blinked and smiled softly as he held her tightly in his arms. With Nia around, his life wasn't so tough, with her it was everything he wanted it to be and more.

**TWO chapters left guys! This story's coming to a close! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I enjoyed writing it. Next is the final chapter and after that the epilogue!**


	34. The unexpected surprises in life

A Tough Life

Final Chapter

The (unexpected) surprises of Life

4 years later

**This chapter also has a pm lemon if you chose to read it. It is by far better than the first mostly because I made the first one awkward and short on purpose. You guys know the score, you want a lemon PM me or even easier pm me your emails so I can send you the whole chapter, it's easier for me that way, especially since that chapter is about twice as long as this one. **

"You're kidding me." Nia asked in shock, she never expected this, not in a million years, not so soon.

"No Nia-san I'm not, you're definitely-

"But I can't be! I've been taking these every day at nine in the morning! I've never missed one! Or been late, never! You have to be wrong, there's no chance." The nurse gave her a weird look as Nia held the pack of pills out to her.

"A blood test is almost always accurate, very rarely are they ever wrong."

"Well its wrong now! I can't be…there's no way I could ever be-

"It says here…" The nurse said cutting Nia off. "That you were given antibiotics after a wound you received on a mission. Antibiotics can cancel out the effects of birth control pills." Nia looked at her wide eyed, how had she ever forgotten that?

"Oh Kami…So I'm…" She swallowed thickly, her throat suddenly very dry. "I'm really…"

"Pregnant, yes you are. If you'd like we can do an ultrasound to be completely positive."

"Please." She said quickly, her hands against her stomach. The nurse brought her to a different room with the ultrasound machine and Nia hopped on the table and lifted her shirt waiting for the nurse to continue. After getting everything set up and the machine up and running blue gel was squirted on her stomach just below her bellybutton and immediately the loud whooshing sound could be heard from the machine making Nia jump.

"That would be your heartbeat." The nurse said simply as she maneuvered the wand across her womb until another sound could be heard, one much faster but with the same rhythm.

"And that would be your baby's heartbeat." The nurse said. "Congratulations, its official Nia-san, you're pregnant that indeed is a baby in there. I'll write you a prescription for prenatal vitamins and you can go on your way." After handing her the prescription and a list of do's and don'ts, both of which Nia quickly stowed in her pocket, the brunette hurried home a nervous mess. What was she going to do? How was she going to handle having a baby? What would Gaara say? GAARA!

'Oh Kami I've got to tell Gaara….' Nia stood in front of the long mirror hanging on the back of their bedroom door looking at her reflection.

"I have something important to tell you…ok that's a good start…ummm…You're gonna be a dad surprise." Nia said weakly to the reflection. 'He'd have a damn heart attack that wouldn't work!' "Ummm…We're having a baby…maybe…uhh…I'm pregnant." The brunette said flatly finally letting it sink in rubbing her hand where their child was growing inside her. "I'm pregnant…We're having a baby because I'm pregnant." She couldn't help the tears that fell from her eyes. Nia was scared to death, a life, a mixture of she and Gaara was growing inside of her, it was her no…_their_ child…it was their child and the poor thing was a complete accident. What if he didn't want it? Did she want it? It was unexpected sure, but Nia knew she could never ever get rid of her child even if he didn't want it, it was going to be her baby…their baby, she was having their baby.

The brunette practiced for hours in front of the mirror and finally after having built up her courage made her way to the Kazekage's tower, Gaara wasn't due home for another seven hours or so and she couldn't wait that long. Nia made her way to the office and knocked on the door entering.

"Gaara I have to tell you something." The red head looked up hearing the tone in his wife's voice she seemed worried, more so than usual with the particularly heavy workload from the hospital she had been dealing with recently.

"What's wrong?" he asked standing to greet the brunette who kissed him.

"I think you'll want to sit down for this…" Gaara looked at her weirdly before complying with her request sitting in the chair in front of the desk and facing Nia. She took several slow breaths feeling like she was on the verge of throwing up.

"Are you ok Nia? Maybe _you_ should sit." He said standing to offer her the seat immediately Nia shook her head.

"Gaara, please sit back down before I freak out and then end up not telling you. This is really important." The nineteen year old said to her husband nervously.

"Then tell me love." He said giving her his undivided attention.

"I'm…I…" Nia fumbled for her words. 'Why was it so easy to practice saying it at home?' she thought nervously.

"You're…?" Now he was getting nervous, was she ok? Was she sick? Did she have to go somewhere?

"I'm pregnant." She blurted out. Nia watched as his green eyes widened in shock as he simply stared at her, the brunette could feel her heart beating through her chest as she waited nervously for a response.

"P-pregnant?" Did he just say that word out loud? Did **she** just say that word out loud! ? She couldn't have said that word out loud.

"Pregnant." She confirmed in a weak whisper watching his reaction nervously he looked to be in utter shock as he looked up at her helplessly from his seated position.

"You're on the pill."

"It didn't work." Nia said in a quiet whisper shaking her head.

"But-but that's it's job, it's job is to work! It's supposed to work!" Gaara said in a panicked voice, and watching as his wife flinched and took a step back. Gaara went silent holding his head in his hands as he took a deep breath, finally he looked up once again after calming down. "So….so you're…you're having a baby?" He sounded more frightened than she felt and immediately hearing this Nia took a step forward and knelt in front of him cupping his face in her hands.

"No Gaara, **we're** having a baby, half of this is yours you know." Nia said softly still nervous.

"A baby…?" he asked wanting to be completely sure of what he was hearing.

"Yes."

"Ours?" Now she kind of wanted to flick his forehead…she resisted. 'What kind of question is that?'

"Whose else would it be Gaara? It's yours, mine, and it's ours, we're having a baby. Now tell me your thoughts on this because I'm scared to death."

"I'm terrified, you're positive?" he asked running his hand through his unruly hair.

"I went to the doctors today, I'm three and a half months along, and after two urine samples, a blood test, and an ultrasound, they've determined that I'm definitely pregnant and that it's definitely a baby." Nia said softly watching as Gaara stood.

"Ok….we can do this…hell I alone am running an entire ninja village, how tough can a baby be?"

'Is Gaara trying to reassure himself? Or me?' Nia thought curiously.

"**You'd be surprised, running a village and raising a family at twenty one? Good luck." **Shukaku said simply.

'You are NOT helping this situation!'

"**Who said I was trying to help? It's about time you two got down to making me grandchildren anyways."**

"Ok, we can do this, we're two smart practical adults…Naruto hasn't killed his son yet so that's proof enough that we can manage this if he's a competent father."

"Gaara! You can't say things like that!" Nia said weakly watching the red head pace around slapping his pockets as his mind worked at crazy speeds.

"We have to get fake married. A huge public wedding or everyone will think our kids born out of wedlock, people are real sticklers about that here." He said quickly. "What is it?"

"Huh?"

"The baby what is it? Male? Female? what?" Nia simply stared at her husband.

"It's neither right now…how much do you know about fetal development?"

"What? How can it be neither?" Nia shook her head.

"That happens later on, by like the 6th or 7th month we'll definitely know what the baby is. But right now it could be either a boy or a girl it doesn't start off as one or another, the more important organs come first, like the heart and nervous system. It already has a heart beat you know." Hearing this Gaara blinked.

"What?"

"The baby, it has a heartbeat. I heard it." Gaara swallowed this piece of information as he went quiet for a moment.

"We'll need to buy things, baby things, books, diapers, clothes, that thing they sleep in? What's it called?"

"A crib?" Nia offered.

"No the other thing."

"A cradle, bassinet?"

"I'm sure it's the first one…When do we tell people about this?"

"Maybe after I start showing? So we know that were _going_ to have a baby." Nia said simply, hearing this Gaara looked at her in confusion.

"You just said you were having a baby now you aren't sure? Do you…not want it?" He sounded so disappointed and it made Nia's heart break.

"I absolutely want our baby Gaara, but sometimes things happen and people can lose the baby before it's born, it's called a miscarriage. Sometimes it happens from accidents-

"I'll keep you safe then."

"Gaara sometimes if there's something developmentally wrong with the baby it can just happen, sometimes there's nothing wrong with the baby and it just happens. Pregnancy as easy as it sounds is a very tricky thing. There're miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, still births, premature births. All these things either affect the baby, the mother or both in sometimes very negative ways."

"Could you explain them to me?" Nia sat down.

"Well I told you about miscarriages, Ectopic pregnancies are when the fertilized egg develops not in the uterus which is to hold the developing baby but in the fallopian tube which leads to the uterus. If the baby grows there and the pregnant woman doesn't know it could kill her."

"Our baby's not there right?"

"No the doctor would have told me, we would have seen it on the ultra sound. Still births are when the baby makes it to the gestational mark but it passes away before it's born. That can happen due to trauma from the pregnancy, a rough birth or something like the umbilical cord wrapping around its neck cutting off the oxygen."

"That won't happen…will it?"

"I don't know, it could or we could have a perfect baby that's healthy. Or we could have a premature baby, that's when the baby is delivered early, sometimes by weeks, sometimes by months, if it's born a week or two early it's usually no big deal, but if it's born months early the baby can be very sick."

"I was born premature because they implanted Shukaku into me." Gaara said softly.

"But you're alive and well and I love you." Nia said softly laying her head on his shoulder.

"I love you too…and I love our baby too." Gaara said softly, hearing this Nia smiled.

"I too love our baby."

O0o0o0

A week passed and an announcement was made declaring the marriage of the Kazekage, and his soon to be wife from Konoha. Invitations were sent and another week later the wedding was held and after a boringly long and traditional desert ceremonial wedding the pair said their vows and sealed the promise with a kiss. They were more relieved to move on to the reception, which was in a much cooler location, the poor brunette was melting in her over the top dress. They mingled, talked with their 'important' guests like the higher lords and relatives of the wind Dyamo and finally found the time to actually appreciate their friends and family after getting the formalities out of the way. Nia and Gaara had found Naruto, Hinata and their four month old son Minato. Nia smiled and after asking the Hyuga mother held the child smiling sweetly at him, his resemblance to Hinata was astounding, the blue black hair color, the lavender color of his eyes, and even the pale tone of his skin. All of it was from Hinata. The one thing it seemed he inherited from his father was his wild hair.

Gaara smiled watching his wife hold Naruto's son the sight warmed him, he knew she'd be a great mother when their baby was born. He couldn't help but wonder about his skills in dealing with children, he was never around something so small and defenseless. Gaara blinked out of his thoughts when he realized that Nia, Hinata and Naruto were staring at him.

"I apologize, what did you say?" Nia looked down before glancing up at him through her long dark lashes.

"I asked if you wanted to hold him before I gave little Minato-kun back to his mother." Gaara blinked once, twice, three times before slowly nodding. Seeing this Nia beamed but looked at him curiously as he held his arms out as if he were expecting a package. Hinata laughed.

"Naruto did the same thing, don't worry, I'll help you." The bluenette said positioning his arms so he'd hold the baby properly. "Your elbow will support his head, and your arm will support the rest of his body." Once the Kazekage had his arms held right, Nia gently placed the infant in his arms watching as he held the baby carefully.

"He's a beautiful child, congratulations both of you, though I am sorry to hear about your father Hinata." Gaara said softly.

"Thank you very much both for your compliment and your condolences, but it's quite alright. My father got to see his first grandchild before he passed so I could not ask for more than that, he passed peacefully and with a smile on his face." Hinata said softly before quickly changing the subject. The couples talked about quite a bit and the whole time Nia kept sneaking glances at Gaara as he held the baby, Finally Hinata forced Gaara to relinquish his hold of the infant, he'd refused not wanting to wake him, and after sharing smiles hugs and handshakes the pairs went their separate ways.

"Will our baby be that small?" Gaara asked quietly into the brunette's ear.

"It'll be smaller than that. Their baby had four months of growing outside of Hinata's womb, he's not a newborn, our baby will be half that size, maybe around seven or eight pounds or so." Nia replied back just as softly.

"No human is that small."

"When their born they are." Nia said simply. The wedding lasted well into the night and finally the 'newly' married couple made it home, the red head carrying the brunette through the door and into their home. Nia had trouble undressing, for this dress unlike her first more simple gown was large and corseted tied tightly in the back.

Gaara came to the rescue releasing her from the confines of her silken prison, kissing her neck as he did so. The brunette leaned into the kisses pressing her back into his chest as she tilted her head to catch his eye while smiling at him. Nia slowly removed the dress watching with a smirk the red head's response to her body, every time he'd gaze at her as if she were the most beautiful thing on earth, and she loved it. The dress was laid on the back of a chair, and her hair which had been pinned in a loose but elegant knot was released from the hair sticks and it flowed down her back in silken chocolate waves. The brunette turned to face him.

"Gimmie a minute and I'll be right back." She said walking to the bathroom as Gaara removed his formal clothing and dressed himself in pajama pants and a t shirt. When she returned Nia was wearing a light green silk night gown and paused at the door watching her husband dress.

"That one's new." Gaara said softly walking from where he had been and paused, standing in front of the brunette.

"Yeah, I got it the other day, it reminded me of you, it's almost the same color as your eyes, plus I like green." She said with a soft smile wrapping her arms around his neck as Gaara pulled her closer.

"Today was tiring." Gaara mused watching as Nia smirked.

"You think? I know I'm tired."

"Well if you're tired…" The red head said quickly scooping Nia into his arms as she giggled holding tightly to him as he carried her to the bed and climbed in. "I'll carry you." He said softly kissing her and placing her gently down onto the bed making her smile.

"Just because I'm tired doesn't mean I can't walk Gaara."

"I know, but it's not like that would ever stop me from lifting you up when you need it." Gaara said, his hand which was resting on her waist moved to just below her belly. "And you…I'll give you the world Little One, I'll do everything I can to keep you safe because believe it or not I already love you…What do you think he'll look like?"

"He?" Nia asked in confusion.

"We have to call the baby something, we can't just keep calling him it." He said in a matter of fact voice.

"Well it could be a she you know." Nia said softly with a smile as he rubbed her belly.

"A girl…" he said quietly as if testing out the sound of it before smiling. "She'll be beautiful like you."

"I'd love it if she had either your eyes or hair…or both, mine are so ordinary."

"She can have my hair, but she'll need your eyes, I love your eyes."

"And if it's a boy?"

"I'd imagine he'd have your hair, like Naruto and Hinata's son, though I do like the idea of little me's running around so I'd like it if he had my hair, if he didn't Kankuro would corrupt him…"

"How should we tell them? Your family and mine…I mean, the baby's just so unexpected as it is, and we're young, how are we going to deal with this? With the council, with everything?" Gaara pulled the worrying brunette close.

"We'll do everything to the best of our ability…we may not be perfect parents and we may make mistakes…but this child _will_ be loved, and that's all every child needs isn't it?"

"You're right, you're so right." The brunette said with a smile wrapping her arms around Gaara's neck and holding him tightly to her. After a while Gaara made to move but Nia stopped him. "Just let me hold you." Nia cradled his head kissing him. That was all she wanted, just to hold him against her to never let go. She brushed her fingers through his soft red hair until she finally noticed how his breathing had evened out, he'd fallen asleep or was very close to it. Nia was fine with this, she loved him, she loved the child they had created together even though it was no larger than a plum right now, she loved their life, her life, his life. It was a tough life and it was hard to live but it was worth it. They'd found each other, they'd found friendship, and companionship, they'd found love. They were soul mates, two parts of the same coin and destined to be together, he'd saved her life as many times as she'd saved his, they'd die for each other. They had a tough life, now it was time to look towards the future, it would be trying filled with trials and hard times, difficulties and dangers, and even death, but together they could and would get through everything. With a smile Nia kissed Gaara's forehead right on the Kanji as she closed her eyes.

"I love you Gaara."

"I love you too." He murmured softly.

Together, their hearts beating in unison they fell asleep in each other's arms.

~~~The End~~~

**Well tadaa, that's the end of the story, at least till the epilogue next week, like the other chapter, the lemony version is available via pm, the last one was short and awkward on purpose because they were first starting out learning about each other, this one I think is a much better lemon because they now have a good 4 years of experience under their belts to learn likes dislikes and etc. hope you enjoyed my story and don't forget about the joint sequel which will be published the same day as the epilogue. It's based on the future, Gaara and Nia's kid, Naruto and Hinata's children and a few others it'll be called Dangerous Lives, it's M rated and such. Laters guys! (3 **


	35. Epilogue

A Tough Life

Epilogue

12 years later

He watched as she slept, it wasn't her first mission, nor would it be her last. By shinobi standards she was technically an adult, an adult of all of twelve years old. Gaara shook his head; no she'd always be his baby. His daughter turned in her bed mumbling something in her sleep before snuggling up to her pillow holding it tightly. It honestly was times like this where he realized how young his daughter still was. Walking over Gaara picked up the stuffed purple bunny from the floor and tucked it into the bed along with the sleeping child. He smiled softly brushing her hair from her face as he kissed the top of her head, she was his entire world. Silently he walked from the room.

O0o0o0

Long red hair flashed around the corner as a girl ran through the halls of her home, she was late it was her very first solo mission and she was late. Not a good first impression for her shinobi career. Grabbing her shuriken holster and her Suna headband the girl tied the headband to her right arm and the holster to her left leg. Grabbing something to tie her hair back with the girl didn't bother wasting time hurrying through the building and running out the door. Not for the first time the red head took after her uncle and jumped from the window sprinting to her destination. She'd been briefed by the Kazekage of her mission last night, she was to represent Suna and play diplomat to a team from the leaf village and show them around the desert village.

Sprinting full out the girl made it to the main gates in record time and seeing no leaf ninja she breathed a sigh of relief, she wouldn't want to disappoint the Kazekage, after all the girl hated it when her father ever looked at her in disappointment. Finally after only several minutes she could see a group speeding towards her on the horizon, and not for the first time did she wonder who it was she'd be escorting through Suna. Catching a flash of blue hair and opal eyes the girl beamed and hurried over to the group.

"Minato-kun! I haven't seen you in almost two years!" the red head said happily hugging the bluenette making his face turn red.

"Hey Naminé-Chan." The boy said with a shy smile.

"Hey Naminé-Chan, are you the one to escort us to see the Kazekage?" Their team leader Tenten asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Naminé said with a beaming smile. "Come on, follow me." She said leading the group into the village. "Who are you two? I'm Naminé Sabaku." The red head said turning to walk backwards as she faced Minato's teammates.

"I'm Kaya Inuzuka." A brown haired girl said with a grin. "This here's Ume, she's my ninja hound in training." The Inuzuka girl said gesturing to the puppy on the top of her head as it panted in the heat.

"I'm Toshi Aburame." The young male said with a slight wave.

"Well it's nice to meet you both." Naminé said with a bright smile. She turned continuing to lead them to the Kazekage's tower. The trip only took a few minutes and in no time they had made it to her father's office. Naminé knocked on the door waiting for permission to enter and once her father answered she entered announcing the arrival of the Konoha shinobi.

"Thank you Naminé, now if you don't mind you've been requested for assistance at the hospital in the medicinal herbs sector."

"I'll be there immediately." She said bowing just as she was to leave a voice stopped her.

"Could I help too?" Gaara blinked hearing Minato's voice but after a moment he smiled softly.

"Sure, go with Naminé, the two other genin may go to their temporary housing, Naminé please bring them there on your way to the hospital."

"Of course." She said leading the teens from the room. Tenten stood in silence looking at Gaara who still was staring at the door his daughter had made her way through.

"She's beautiful Gaara, you've done a wonderful job hiding her." Tenten said jokingly.

"She's just like her mother."

"Well she looks just like you, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss." Tenten said softly making Gaara blink and look up.

"I'm sorry to hear of yours. Losing a child…I cannot imagine the pain you must have felt to go through such devastation, especially with him being such a young age." Tenten looked hurt as pain flashed in her eyes.

"I've learned that there are times where you can't protect your child from everything, and when you try to sometimes it just doesn't work. Hizashi would have been four years old this month."

"You can't blame yourself for an act of nature completely out of your control."

"Sometimes I think Neji blames me…I still blame myself thinking that maybe there could have been something I could have done to prevent it, that I should have seen some kind of sign, that something was wrong with him, he was perfectly fine and went so suddenly."

"Do not blame yourself." Gaara said once again as Tenten raised her head nodding. She they traded scrolls and the brunette dismissed herself. Gaara bowed his head as she left his office. Nothing he knew could compare to the pain of losing a child, his wife had several miscarriages in the last few years, the most recent being only two weeks ago, she was four months along. Even though it hurt, he knew it was nothing in comparison to Neji and Tenten's pain; that was something he wished never to experience.

He had come close to learning this pain when his daughter was born; she was born prematurely, almost two months early after a man attacked his wife just days after she entered her 8th month of pregnancy. By all counts neither should have survived the attack, however they were his miracles. His daughter weighing 3lbs and 2oz was born blue and practically lifeless, the cord having been wrapped around her neck, had begun to take in lifesaving air, and his wife who had begun hemorrhaging after delivering their daughter had somehow been saved and pulled through surviving to see another day, to see her family. Gaara could remember his daughters first days at home; she'd stayed in the hospital for weeks until she was healthy and weighed enough to be brought home. He had refused to let anyone but Nia touch her for the first few months. It was not because he did not trust his siblings, it was because he refused to let her go or put her down. His baby was attached to his hip at all times so to say.

O0o0o0

_None of the villagers save for medical staff had seen his daughter and Gaara planned to keep it that way. Picking up the small bundle he vanished in a swirl of sand arriving at his home where his wife, who was still recovering was waiting for them to return, he knew she'd be in the nursery. As he made his way up the stairs his suspicions were confirmed when he found Nia sleeping soundly in the rocking chair by the window. Gently he stroked her cheek rousing the brunette from her sleep, and as she blinked her eyes open Nia took notice of the small bundle in his arms and smiled. Understanding her unspoken demand by the look in her eyes he laid their daughter into Nia's waiting arms. _

"_She's beautiful." Nia said softly smiling, for the first time she was able to hold her daughter in her arms. Like Gaara she'd been able to touch her through the incubator, but because of the baby's weak immune system they couldn't do much else. Their daughter had a head full of thick dark red hair much like her fathers. Just sitting there holding her daughter in her arms had Nia feeling so content._

_It wasn't long until their child began to grow, trying to talk and crawl around, that was when Gaara learned that she was much like him, he'd taken Naminé to the small sand garden inside the mansion as he tended to his cacti, which after a close almost accident he learned to keep them on much higher shelves. Naminé had been in her playpen kept away from the sharp needles of her fathers cultivated cacti when Gaara had noticed swirls of sand moving around whenever his daughter moved around the pen, crawling from one side to the other. Curious Gaara picked the little one up placing her on the cool sand and watched as it followed her as Naminé crawled around finally sitting near her father and reaching up for him, it was a sight that never failed to warm his heart._

_Gaara lifted the nine month old straightening out her little yellow sundress and fixing her shorts as he did so before walking from the room, his daughter in his arms looking attentively around babbling cutely as she did so. Today Nia had put her hair into two cute little pigtails, and Naminé had already destroyed them, pulling one out as she now chewed her fingers. Walking past the maids and servants Gaara made his way to the kitchen where he grabbed jars of baby food, his lunch and a bottle from the fridge, all with his daughter still in his arms. Today's lunch was last night's dinner, salted tongue and gizzards, it already had his mouth watering as he heated it up, quickly heating the bottle after and shaking it when it was done. He'd learned to do this after Naminé had burnt her mouth one time. He'd felt terrible and had given her juice and cold milk for weeks despite Nia's protests that babies needed warm milk to sleep, lucky for the baby that Nia decided to breast feed._

_After getting their lunches set up the red head placed his tiny copy into the highchair next to him and opened the baby food, today it was turkey and sweet potatoes for lunch with mashed mangos for a treat after. He alternated feeding himself and his daughter watching as the mashed food was soon in her hair and on her clothes, her mouth open and ready for more food to eat. He had to stop several times to clean her up and wipe the tray down. As he made his way to grab another bib, the original was filthy now, Gaara watched as Naminé reached for his food and hurried back over not wanting her to choke._

"_You can't eat this, its Daddy's food." Gaara said lifting the plate and moving out of her reach._

"_Da foo!" Naminé said reaching for the plate still._

"_No."_

"_Da!"_

"_No."_

"_DA!"_

"_No."_

"_Gaara what are you doing?" Nia asked laughing as she walked into the kitchen back from her shift at the hospital._

_"She wants to eat my lunch." Gaara said feeling as though he sounded very childish at the moment. Hearing this Nia laughed as she pulled the ingredients to make a salad from the fridge._

"_So let her, break it into small pieces and make sure it's not too hot or spicy." Gaara nodded and broke several pieces into small bite size morsels before putting one in the baby's open mouth. It was funny, she reminded him of a little sparrow. As it turned out, much to Gaara's surprise, his daughter liked his favorite food…no one liked his favorite food so that small fact made him smile, along with the fact that she ate more of his food than he did, her eyes lighting up in delight with each bite. Finally Nia swept down lifting the little one from her chair and walked from the room allowing Gaara to eat his lunch in peace, he knew Naminé was in desperate need of a bath and a nap now and allowed his wife to steal away their child for the time being. _

_Once he was finished he walked to the nursery watching as Nia cradled their baby as she sat in the rocking chair, Naminé falling steadily towards sleep._

"_She's getting so big." Nia said softly. Although she was only nine months old, Naminé was roughly the size of a seven month old._

"_But she's still small." Gaara said gently rubbing the infant's head as she slept. Nia stood and gently placed her in the crib, holding her breath as Naminé stirred for just a moment before settling back to sleep._

"_She's so beautiful, just like her mother." Gaara said hugging Nia from behind and resting his chin on her shoulder as Nia lay her head against his._

"_She's so much like you, did you know that? She makes the same faces you do you know."_

"_Yeah I know, Kami I'm gonna have to beat boys off left and right with every kind of jutsu I know. You do realize that were screwed when she gets older right?"_

"_Oh I know, it'll be a vicious circle, you beat up the boys I patch them up and send them back to you." Nia said with a laugh making Gaara laugh softly._

"_Have I mentioned how much I love you?" he said softly._

"_Not recently no." Nia said with a smile turning to kiss her husband on the cheek._

_O0o0o0_

Yes, his daughter was certainly growing up, his baby wasn't a baby anymore Gaara hated the very thought wondering if there was some kind of reversal jutsu to make her little again. There were times when she was a little girl and just wanted to be with him just because he was there. Gaara loved those moments, and as she grew they grew farther and more in between. Night had soon fallen and Gaara was praised in how his daughter handled her mission guiding the Konoha shinobi around the village. Tonight the Konoha ninja would stay and leave early tomorrow morning. As they sat around the dinner table, their meal just finishing up Gaara stood and after a kiss to his wife and daughter he walked back to his office, he had a busy day today and was overwhelmed with paperwork which he'd only put a tiny dent in. Naminé watched as her father walked away from the table and frowned.

"Mama, why has Daddy been doing this lately? I feel like we don't ever get to see him anymore." Naminé asked quietly but loud enough for the brunette to hear in the other room.

"Baby, Daddy's job can get really hectic sometimes, and he has a lot to do. As the Kazekage it's his job to run this entire village, it's not easy and it's a lot of work to be done Lovie."

"I know it's a lot of work but sometimes it's like he just vanishes…sometimes I'm afraid he just won't come back." Hearing this Nia turned to face her daughter.

"Naminé what would ever make you think your father would just leave us?" Nia asked pausing in her task of drying the washed dishes.

"Well, I was talking to Minato-kun's teammate Kaya…and she said that when her dad would get really busy he'd go away for days at a time and one day he just never came back." Naminé said softly looking at the ground. Nia put down the plate and walked over to her daughter wrapping her arms around her and pulling the red head close.

"Oh Baby, sometimes those things happen, I won't lie and say they don't because they do. However that being said, your father will never leave me or you ever. We will always be a family, he will never leave you and neither will I. We've been together now for seventeen years and known each other for almost twenty one. Trust me when I say that Daddy's here to stay my love." Nia said smiling down at her daughter tilting the girls face up to look at her.

"But…but I never get to see him anymore. I see him when I'm going on or returning from missions but that doesn't count and neither does dinner time either. I just want to spend some time with my dad." Naminé said escaping her mother's embrace and walking from the room as Nia stared sadly after her.

O0o0o0

Gaara was working diligently in his office when a knock came from the door and quickly it opened revealing his wife.

"Gaara do you have some time?" The red head looked up from his papers and noting the serious expression on her face quickly nodded and placed his papers aside.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

"How much longer are you going to be working late like this?" Nia asked noting the overwhelming amount of paperwork on his desk.

"Nia I have to get this all done before the end of the month, that's in three days and I really don't want the council to get on my case about this." Gaara said quietly rubbing the back of his neck and sighing.

"Can I ask you a question without you getting upset?" this made Gaara blink, every time Nia set up the conversation up with this line they were discussing something abnormally serious.

"Of course, why wouldn't you be?" Nia took a breath before letting it out slowly.

"When was the last time you spent some time with Naminé?"

"Tonight at dinner."

"No Gaara, I mean excluding designated meal times and mission briefings. When was the last time you spent time with Naminé in a father to daughter kind of way." Gaara let this sink in as he thought about and his answer made him feel terrible.

"Almost two weeks ago, damn it." Gaara growled putting his head in his hands, he'd always been very family oriented, sure the village hadn't laid eyes on his daughter until after her sixth birthday (she just had to go to school) but still, he'd always been focused on the welfare of his wife and child so the fact that he had been unintentionally neglecting his daughter hit him hard.

"Babe are you ok?" Nia asked, Gaara shook his head.

"I feel terrible she must be so upset."

"Well, all Naminé wants to do is spend some time with her father and it's early on a Friday night and she has no missions tomorrow…Let me handle the paperwork, go spend some time with our daughter." Nia said with a smile as Gaara stood from his desk. As they traded places the red head pulled his wife into a kiss and smiled at her.

"Thank you."

"Any time Babe, any time." Nia said as she sat behind the desk pulling paperwork towards her.

O0o0o0

Gaara walked through Suna heading towards the house and paused when he noticed the silhouette sitting on the roof of the mansion. Every Friday night, weather permitting Naminé and Gaara would sit on the roof and watch for shooting stars. Walking towards the building he noticed as his daughter stood heading for the door on the roof. With a burst of speed that would make even Lee proud Gaara made it to the roof before his daughter reached the door.

"Sorry I'm late." He said softly watching as his daughter froze and quickly turned around.

"Daddy! You came!"

"You thought I forgot?" Gaara asked quietly watching as his daughter looked away.

"Well you've been really busy lately and I didn't know if you'd have the time…" Gaara walked over and placed his hand on his daughter's head.

"For you little one, I'll make time, you need only ask."

"But…what about your job?" Naminé asked meekly. Hearing this Gaara knelt down to his daughter's level.

"What about it? My jobs just a job, you are my world Naminé. There could be hundreds of other things I could do for a job but every day I'd come home to you and your mom. Always." Gaara watched as his daughter's eyes began streaming and he grew panicked, what did he do wrong! ? Panic and confusion flew out the window when the twelve year old hugged him tightly knocking him to the ground.

"I love you Daddy."

"I love you too Naminé." Gaara said patting her head awkwardly as he held his daughter tightly. "Don't you ever forget that either, I love you and your mom more than anything else in this world, you both are my most important and cherished people I'd do anything for you because I love you to death and then some, understood?" His daughter nodded once again and pulled away from her father.

"I understand Daddy. Are we going to look at the stars tonight?" Naminé asked a hopeful tint in her voice.

"Of course we are Little One, let's go. I have some place special to show you first though." Gaara said lifting his daughter up as he stood. "Come." Together the pair made their way into the desert, Gaara leading the way until finally Naminé paused.

"Something's weird, it feels like my sands being tugged in that direction over there." The girl said pointing ahead of them making Gaara smile.

"That's because it is, there's a mineral deposit over there and that's where we're going." He said walking towards the magnetic source.

"Oh…why?"

"You'll see." Gaara heard his daughter sigh and he smiled softly, she might be sighing now but he knew his daughter would love this place. They arrived five minutes later to a rocky out cropping and immediately Naminé looked at her father skeptically.

"You took me to see a rock?"

"It's a special rock." Gaara said simply walking around the edge until he slid into the fissure on the side his daughter following close behind. Soon enough he entered a cavern that led out into an oasis and the girl stared in shock at the pool of water surrounded by all of the lush greenery.

"How does this place even exist?" she asked in awe.

"It's how it was formed, most of this area's closed in so when the heat of the day comes and the water evaporates instead of ascending into the sky the water vapor reaches the ceiling keeping the water inside, watering the plants." Gaara said trailing off watching as his daughter looked around in wonder.

"It's so pretty here." Naminé said softly.

"This is my special place, when I was younger I'd come here to think…not so much now though but if you can't find me in the village, I'm probably here." The red headed male said softly. Naminé smiled at him.

"So if you go missing I can hunt you down?" this made her father laugh.

"I'll never go missing Naminé, in my world you are my sunlight brightening my day, and your mother is my moon lifting the darkness from my night. Never would I willingly part from you two."

"And when there is a solar eclipse or a new moon? What then?" she asked quickly.

"That's when you're in Konoha, I know you'll be gone for a short while and you'll be back soon but that doesn't stop me from missing you both…now come, let's watch the stars." He said walking towards an area bathed in moonlight, Naminé following and lying down next to her father snuggling up under his arm. Together they watched the starry sky shift as hours passed and soon enough it began to grow colder, the desert heat quickly vanishing and being replaced with the desert's moonlit biting cold. Gaara sat up and noticing his daughter asleep beside him lifted her into his arms and carefully made his way from the cavern like oasis carrying her back home feeling as she nuzzled her head against his chest. They had made it home and following behind them was Nia who entered mere moments after with a smile on her face.

"I see you've had your father-daughter time?"

"Yeah, our usual Friday night." Gaara said with a soft smile as Nia followed him into their daughter's room, she was already in pajama pants and a t-shirt so luckily all the brunette had to do was pull the sandals from her daughter's feet, and once that was done Gaara pulled the blanket aside resting his child gently on the bed and covering her back up once she was settled watching as she snuggled up under the blankets. Nia leaned over kissing the red headed girl and with a smile to her husband she walked from the room. Gaara too leaned over kissing the top of his daughter's head.

"No matter how old you get, you'll always be my baby. Good night Little One, I love you." And with that he closed the door, and with a silent prayer hoped her life would remain as peaceful and happy as it was. She was a ninja and soon enough she'd be out on dangerous missions fighting dangerous people, Gaara honestly wondered if he was sheltering her too much, he knew the chunin exams were coming up and wondered what Baki was doing to prepare Naminé and her team. He thought upon this as he walked into his room to see his wife lying in the bed and drinking a cup of tea. After changing he joined her.

"All of the papers are finished." Nia said watching as her husband's face fell in shocked disbelief.

"How did you manage that?"

"Shadow clones." Was her simply reply as Gaara shook his head.

"That was ingenious."

"I have been told that I'm quite bright when I try…what's on your mind?"

"Naminé's growing up." Gaara said softly resting his head on the brunette's shoulder as she placed her empty tea cup on the table and wrapped her arms around him.

"I know babe, she's growing so fast."

"I don't like it, the chunin exams are coming up soon, missions get very dangerous at chunin level." Nia smiled softly her hands running through his hair.

"Again I know, but have faith in her…our Naminé is a strong one, she's sweet with a big heart and like you she takes no one's crap." Nia said with a laugh making Gaara grin slightly before it fell.

"I'm afraid for her, because I know Naminé will be too hard headed to be afraid for herself."

"That definitely sounds like our daughter, well, all we can do is give her the tools she'll need to survive. Teach her like you have been to control her sand Gaara, you've been slacking, we all are teaching her something, you, me, Temari, Kankuro, and Baki. Hell our daughter knows enough about medicine to be a nurse at the hospital, and as much as I'd like to give her that job I know she won't take it, she wants to keep people safe, protect her friends with her own strength."

"She is like me…maybe too much so for her own good."

"Well she certainly has your attitude…and your stubborn streak." Nia added as an after-thought making Gaara blink and look over at her.

"I'm not stubborn."

"Yes love you are, you're stubborn and hard headed and mulish when things aren't going your way, and our child is the same exact way."

"Ok, ok, I get it…" Gaara grumbled turning off the light leaving a scowling Nia in darkness. She climbed over him and facing the red headed male the brunette snuggled close to him.

"You never let me finish." She said softly her head tucked under her husband's chin. "She's brutally honest, and smart, and clever…and her smile…Gaara that smile you love so much, she got it from you. All of our daughter's best qualities come from you." Nia said leaning up and kissing the shocked red head.

"That's impossible…she's so much like you."

"But everything on the inside, her inner strength, her endurance, her will to succeed and improve and keep everyone safe from harm, that comes from you. Yes she may laugh like me, and have that weird little ear freckle, but her attitude and patience and grace are from you, her cool intellect, and her no prisoners mindset are yours."

"We created a perfect combination of us didn't we?" Gaara asked quietly making Nia laugh softly.

"Yes we did and she's perfect, I'd never change her for anything on this earth." She kissed his lips and settled into his arms. "Let your racing mind rest Gaara or you'll never get to sleep." She said softly soon falling into a peaceful slumber as Gaara held her safely in his arms. Closing his eyes his thoughts were of only his child, Nia was right, she was strong, and stubborn, and smart as all hell…maybe just maybe she was ready to face things past the genin level…The thought made him scoff, never, Naminé would never be ready…at least not yet…Gaara wasn't ready to let go of his baby girl just yet, and as the image of a brown eyed little red headed girl reaching up for him entered his mind, a smile graced the Kazekage's lips he too fell asleep.

The (official) End

**This is the end of A Tough Life, thank you all who have stayed with me through this story and all of my pain in the assedness, for that I apologize. The sequel for this story has also been posted today, it's Called Dangerous lives and is in the point of views from Gaara and Nia's daughter and Naruto and Hinata's children, it's a joint sequel and I hope you guys like it, the prologue has been posted, well kinda prologue and character index so you all know who to expect, thank you my beloved readers. If anything I hope you review this chapter just so I know who's still here if anyone, laters guys I'll miss you and writing this story, but all good things come to an end, and the end is now. **


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